Reflections In The Mirror
by GoodGurl
Summary: Chp 12 is up! Forever....the two FINALLY share a moment! Yeay! Read and find out! My first ET, so please be gentle! Please rr! I promise this is good... I hope! :
1. Just Visiting

Note: This is my first time writing this and I know all the stories are the same, with Eriol going back to Japan or Tomoyo going to England, but trust me this is a whole new story... I hope! Anyway, please be gentle, because this is my first E+T fic! I'm not that good in Japanese, but thanx to some of you awesome CCS authors (especially to GreenMystress) who gave me a chance to learn some Japanese to use for my story!   
  
  
  
Reflections In The Mirror  
  
  
Chapter 1 - Just Visiting   
  
  
  
Finding the right moment to take a deep breath, he stepped out of the train and looked around calmly, followed by his two companions closely behind.   
  
"Ahhhh, I'm glad to be home again!" a feminine voice squealed in delight. She stretched and yawned, turning around to wave at the train, which consisted of four frightened young men all hiding in fear of the crazy woman who chased them around.  
  
"Don't you ever quit?" a hollowed, deep voice spoke from inside her pocket. A tiny, bunny-like eared creature popped its head out of her shoulder bag and looked up at the woman. "Those poor young men," he added.  
  
She grinned. "What's wrong with a little fun, Suppi-chan?" The woman glanced towards her master curiously, his back facing her. Throughout the trip, Hiragizawa-kun has been quiet and she could tell that whenever he was quiet, something was bothering him and she couldn't help but wonder what made him frown so much that made him opposite of who he was. "Master? Are you all right? You seem to be unhappy about coming back here." Usually, she was worried for her master whenever he had nothing to say. Hiragizawa-kun spoke a lot, but never has she seen Eriol so quiet on a train ride. Why wouldn't he be so excited about going back to Japan again?  
  
Eriol glanced over his shoulder at Nakuru and smiled. "I am fine, Nakuru. I am just glad to be back again."  
  
Noting the truth in his words, Nakuru's mouth turned into a smile, grabbed hers and Eriol-kun's suitcase and dashed towards the exit without waiting for the others. Spinel flew on his master's shoulder and shook his heard towards the energetic Nakuru. "Why did we ever let her come along?" Suppi-chan spoke, with a slight annoyance in his voice, despite the knowledge that Nakuru was always excited when it comes to Japan and meeting Touya again. Touya, to what Spinel heard from Nakuru's speech, was the 'love of her life.'   
  
"Give her a break, Spinel, she's just excited," Eriol answered, walking towards the outgoing human form of Ruby Moon, as she waited near the entrance.  
  
"Too excited," Spinel mumbled, flying back inside the comfort of Nakuru's bag when they caught up with her.   
  
The lavender haired woman chose not to hear the last comment Spinel made; instead she turned and signaled for a taxi.  
  
  
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The ride took only forty-five minutes from the airport to the place where memories of him as a ten-year-old boy danced melodiously in his mind. He examined the neighborhood carefully, expecting any changes or additions to the small peacefully city of Tomoeda. However, there was none that made him see any additions of new homes or any spaces for building a home. It was the same as he remembered it to be. The bakery was still owned by Hiroshi-kun (sorry I don't know the names of everyone in the town), whose store was still selling with baked goods from all towns. Eriol remembered the first time he tasted his famous, Raspberry cream pie and ever since he tasted it, he made sure that everyday at lunch and after school, he would go to Hiroshi's place and buy it. Following behind him, he could hear Nakuru pointing at all the places she remembered, recalling them and bringing back some memories to Eriol whenever he had forgotten who lived in what place. Suppi-chan, of course, stayed quiet, doing his best not to yell at Nakuru for being so annoying. They all turned the corner where they usually turn for their old home and finally found themselves back in the past. All three of them stood staring at the large mansion where the magician lived in.   
  
Nakuru jumped up and down, clapping her hands in delight. "Yeay! Look Eriol! It's our old home!" She ran inside, pushing the gates out of her way, knowing it wasn't locked and into the large Hiragizawa mansion. Suppi-chan and Eriol watched her run inside the abandoned house.   
  
"What's happened to the mansion, master?" Suppi-chan asked, examining the old house. He squirmed at the appearance of the home. The windows were smashed, leaving pieces of glass on the ground. One half of the gate was pushed down and, by the looks of it, with a full force, while the other half was blowing lightly by the gust of wind that blew through. The roof was tainted with rust and the once beautiful colour of magenta now turned into the colour of reddish-brown, which made it very unattractive. Although the walls still had the same blank colour, the rusting of the roof did not make the mansion anymore beautiful. Suppi-chan frowned and turned to his master for an answer after a few moments of silence.  
  
Eriol glanced at him and smiled. "No one lived in the house," was all he could answer. He was deeply hurt that the house he made from scratch was now a heap of junk ready to be thrown away in the garbage can. Despite the appearance, however, it still held memories of his childhood. He remembered the first time he and.... He turned away from the mansion. "I'm going to see some of my old friends from my school," he spoke, before leaving the presence of his servants.  
  
Spinel watched him go; noticing the changes Eriol was going through in his life. At the age of ten, Eriol was usually the talkative type, but this time, Eriol was seventeen, a teenager, and a moody individual. Spinel can no longer get the words out of his mouth that consisted more than one sentences. He's watched Eriol grow into a young man ever since he can remember and there were times that he wondered what would become of them once he had grown into a man. He remembered being told by his master that once he was a man, he will lose his powers and someone else will have to take his place and his existence will be forever put back to where it belonged. Eriol will no longer be needed, nor Clow Reed for there will be a new master for them. Spinel shook his head of the thought of losing their master and friend. Where will they go if he was to leave their lives forever?   
  
Eriol searched around the suburbs, admiring the beauty of the cherry blossoms now blooming and turned several corners until he found himself in the most beautiful streets of Tomoeda, Japan. It was easy for him to find the Kinomoto resident since nothing changed, except for added slides and swings at the park near the school so more kids can play. Once he arrived there, he knocked on the door, expecting to find a beautiful young woman with brown hair and emerald eyes. However, as he waited for a few seconds, no one came to open the door. Eriol knocked again. Still, there was nothing. He sighed and decided to visit Tomoyo just a few blocks away from Sakura's home.  
  
  
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A drop of water dripped from down her spine, until her ankles, causing her to shiver. She grabbed her purple silk robe from the towel rack and put it on, wrapping the belt around her waist. More water dripped down her back from her wet hair, soaking through her robe as she stepped out of the shower stall. For some strange reason, as she began to twist her long dark hair with her purple towel, she hummed a tune she had not heard for six years. It was the song she first sang at a choir concert as a solo. Tomoyo smiled at the thought and after finishing wrapping the towel around her hair, she flipped her head back up, feeling a little dizzy from the impact and looked at herself in the mirror. She stared for a moment at the reflection, reaching with her tiny hands towards the mirrored face and sighed. Without a word in her thoughts, she turned and walked out of the bathroom. With only a robe and a towel around her hair, Tomoyo ran down the stairs and to the kitchen to make tea. She poured water in the teakettle and turned on the stove to boil the water, then walked to the cupboard and grabbed a handful of any food she can eat. She couldn't help but fill her arms with any types of food she could find. Her arms were filled with potato chips and when she couldn't handle anymore, she placed the end of the bag near her lips and closed her mouth.   
  
The doorbell suddenly rang startling her from what she was doing. Tomoyo glanced towards the door, where she can see it just a few meters away and sighed, opening her mouth as the potato bag fell on the floor with a silent 'crunch.' "Nuriko! Nuriko will you please get that?" she called to one of her mother's servants, though she preferred them as her friends. "My hands are kind of full right now and... Nuriko?" No response. Tomoyo frowned, realizing that she was all alone because Nuriko was off for the day. She gave the rest of her maids the day off for she wanted to be left alone for awhile so she can prove to her mother that she didn't need to be taken care of.   
  
The doorbell rang again. Sighing a deep breath, she dropped the bags from her arms and ran to answer the door. The dark haired girl was just out of breath when she made it to the front door. She paused for a while to catch her breath and opened the door slowly. She peeked her head out and noticed a handsome tall young man standing there with a smile on his face.  
  
"Hai? (yes?)" she said, opening the door wider, not realizing she was wearing a robe with nothing else.   
  
As well, Eriol did not realize she was wearing a very revealing silk robe and continued to smile towards the lovely Tomoyo. He noticed she hasn't changed much. She was still the same, beautiful as a violet flower and the one who spoke with a soft voice. His admiration towards her has always been a friend to a friend and nothing more, yet sometimes he felt compelled not to feel any love towards her. He was certainly attracted to her at first, but it quickly died down when he met Kaho. "Konnichi wa (good afternoon), Daidouji-san," he greeted, with a wave of his hand.  
  
Tomoyo studied him for a while, and then her face widened into a smile as a sign of recognition kicked in. Her eyebrows eventually lifted up into happiness and she opened her mouth to speak. "Hiragizawa-kun?" Without a second thought, she wrapped her arms around him for a hug and smiled. "Hiragizawa-kun!!!! It's so nice to see you!" She couldn't recognize the young man. Even though he has grown taller, Eriol still looked the same, with his piercing blue eyes and short cropped dark hair, which looked blue when light bounces off of it.   
  
Slightly bewildered by the embrace, Eriol hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her waist for a hug. "It's nice to see you too, Daidouji-san," he whispered in her ear, his deep voice tingling her ear.  
  
Realizing at what she was doing and to what she was wearing, she pulled from Eriol's embrace and blushed, looking at herself. Eriol followed his eyes and his face heated up into crimson red as well, noticing the way she looked. Tomoyo grinned.  
  
"Um... I'm going to change now. Why don't you come in?" She opened the door wider. "I'll be right back so just make yourself at home" she said, the redness of her cheeks never leaving her face. She turned and walked up the stairs back to her bedroom to get changed.  
  
Eriol entered the beautiful Daidouji resident. It was still the same as well, although it has been a long time since he visited the place, he still remembered it like glue in his head. He visited the home only once in his lifetime when they had to work together for a science project. He entered the living room cautiously, his eyes catching a portrait of a beautiful young woman above the fireplace. The woman was sitting on a single chair as she smiled. Though her hair seemed dark, the woman had a hint of purple on it, preferably from the light emitted from somewhere. Eriol recognized the woman as Tomoyo and he found himself suddenly mesmerized by her.   
  
Tomoyo returned a few minutes later and when he heard her come down the stairs, Eriol pried her eyes off the painting and turned around to face her. The girl was wearing a light blue tank top with spaghetti straps, which accentuated her chests and tight jean Capri pants that showed the smoothness of her skin. Eriol couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He just remembered her as the ten-year-old girl, best friends and cousins with Sakura and his classmate in elementary school. It has been far too long and Daidouji Tomoyo grew up into a beautiful young woman. He nodded at her presence and smiled, turning his eyes away from the beautiful sight and pretended to be interested in the living room.  
  
"Your house it still the same as I recall it," Eriol spoke. His eyes once again settled on the portrait of Tomoyo. He was getting curious. "Who painted your portrait? It's very beautiful."  
  
Tomoyo reached him eventually and smiled, blushing. She moved to his side and looked at the picture with him. "A friend of mine did it," she replied.   
  
Eriol glanced at her and smiled. "Oh really? What's her name? Maybe I can ask if she can do a portrait of me before I go back to England?"   
  
The girl chuckled. "Actually, HE went back to Hong Kong. You might know him." She watched as Eriol's eyes widened in surprise, which made her laugh even more.  
  
Eriol stared at her, confused beyond anything else. He was about to say something else, when he smelled something burning. "Are you cooking something?"  
  
Tomoyo's eyes widened. She turned to the direction of the kitchen. "AHHH!" she screamed, running to the kitchen. Eriol followed and noticed her turning off the stove and reaching out to remove the boiling kettle. She sighed a breath of relief and turned her head towards Eriol, who was trying to stifle a laugh. Tomoyo grinned. "I- I'm making tea, want some?"   
  
The dark haired boy smiled. "Sure, why not?" Without her permission, he moved around looking for the tea bags, but he couldn't find it. Despite the start of his frustration, Eriol kept smiling and turned to face Tomoyo, who was busy watching him curiously. "Where are the tea bags?"  
  
Tomoyo giggled. "Hai, the tea bags," she said, turning around to face a cupboard behind her. She opened it, taking out a box full of tea inside and showed it to Eriol. "Here they are. This bag contains different types of tea. What flavour do you want?" She handed the box to Eriol.  
  
Eriol examined the box for a while and quickly made his decision on a ginger tea. He took out that flavour and handed the box back to Tomoyo, who took out her own bag of tea and put the box back to where it belonged. Eriol watched as Tomoyo shuffled around the room, grabbing two glasses and pouring the hot water in both of them. "Do know where Sakura is? I went to her house earlier and no one answered," he spoke, finding this the right moment to ask. Him and Tomoyo were never that close, but Eriol sometimes feels he knows her very well whenever he talked to her. Tomoyo was an easy person to talk to. She is kind, honest and generous.  
  
Tomoyo grabbed two stir sticks from the drawer below her and put it on the two hot water filled glasses. "Sakura doesn't live there anymore," she answered.   
  
Eriol nodded. He was hoping to see Sakura and know how she was doing. The Clow Reed in him made him feel that he needed to know if Sakura was all right. After all, she was taking care of the two most important creatures in Clow Reed's life. They were the first of his creations, the protectors of his life and his friends for eternity. Yue and Keroberos. "Really? Where does she live now?" He leaned against the refrigerator and looked at her as he flipped the tea bag over and over around his fingers.  
  
Tomoyo turned, handing him a glass and looked at him. "Well, she moved about a month ago to Hong Kong with her otousan (father) and oniichan (brother). She wanted to pursue her career there in dancing instead."  
  
"And pursue a certain cute ancestor of mine?" He arched an eyebrow and looked at her with a smile on his face. He knew everything about his cute ancestor and his feelings towards the card mistress. He put his tea bag inside the glass and grabbed the string attached to it, dabbing it over and over again on the water until it turned the greenish colour. He stirred it with his stirring stick, blowing at it so it can cool and lifted it up to his lips, sipping it gently and soundlessly.   
  
Tomoyo laughed. "That must be it," she said, doing the same thing Eriol was doing.   
  
After that, they were silent, staring at nothing and sipping their tea. Tomoyo was thinking of something else to say, but when she thought it over in her head, she decided to close the subject and continued to drink her tea in silence. Eriol kept glancing at her, wondering how she could have grown into someone so beautiful, which he failed to stop and look. Not seeing each other for seven years was somewhat, overwhelming. They barely spoke to each other, so how can they ever talk to each other now?  
  
The rest of the afternoon was spent on saying nothing more.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: WOO! Done that!!! This is my first so please don't flame me! _ 


	2. Like Rain

Note: Hi all! You must be wondering if there's going to be any S+S? Well, no fear, they will be in this story, but only for a little bit. After all, this is mostly an E+T story, but what's the harm in bringing Syaoran and Sakura in, huh? This chapter basically explains everything about why Tomoyo was frowning at herself in the mirror (u remember that?)   
  
  
Chapter 2 - Like Rain  
  
  
She took a deep breath. A couple more minutes for sure and she'll burst at the quietness that took place between her and Eriol. She put her empty cup down behind her on the counter and looked at him, her lips turning into a wide smile. She examined him for a while before finally speaking. "Where is Nakuru-san and Suppi-chan?"   
  
Eriol sipped the last drop of content from his cup and put his arm down, his face scrunching up into a sweet smile, the one he was usually known for. "They are looking around the mansion. Nakuru was more up to seeing the mansion again, but not Suppi-chan. He seemed more reluctant to go inside." A chuckle escaped his lips when he said the last few words. The dark haired boy sighed, his smile never fading from his mouth.   
  
"What about you? How do you feel about seeing it again?" She never wished to pry in his personal feelings, but this was the only thing she could do to start a conversation. Tomoyo never enjoyed the environment of tranquillity. She loved conversations!   
  
The sorcerer shrugged. "I don't know. It feels good to be back here in Tomoeda. I'm also glad to see you again, Daidouji-san." He looked into her eyes and grinned, his blue eyes twinkling in delight when he saw her blushing. She's always so cute whenever she blushed like that, he thought.   
  
Tomoyo smiled back. In her heart, she was almost glad that Eriol was back. At least he was the only person left in the world who was willing to listen to what she said or the only person left who was here in Tomoeda. Everyone they knew in Tomoeda elementary had moved on with their lives, or moved on out of the city. Yamazaki found a girl and dared to follow her all the way to America to go to school there and Chiharu chose to be with her cousin, because she was nothing without her favourite cousin. Rika moved somewhere out of Tomoeda, but was still in Japan. She was at least five hours drive from her original home. Sakura moved to Hong Kong with her oniichan and otousan and Syaoran... She took a deep breath. Syaoran was the heart of Sakura's departure. Sakura was popular, beautiful and downright sweet towards people. Tomoyo glanced ahead of her towards her reflected image at the window. 'Am I not good enough for him?' she asked herself. Without realizing it, a tear escaped from her eye. She wiped it quickly with her sleeve, hoping that Eriol did not see, but it was too late because Eriol had seen and heard everything.  
  
"So," she spoke again, her voice slightly shaking. Eriol could tell she was trying to keep hold of herself and not break down and cry. "How long are you staying here?" She turned around to occupy herself on the empty cup on the counter. She poured some more water in her cup, but paused there, staring as the water in the glass began to change into a colour of ember.  
  
The dark haired boy felt pity towards the girl, but kept his face neutral. "At least four weeks or so, unless there is a reason here for me to stay." He looked at her for a bit, wondering what she was thinking now.   
  
Tomoyo didn't hear Eriol's last few words, for the thought of comparing herself to her best friend played in her head. Sakura was always the one being known for the best of her abilities. She was athletic, talented, magically inclined and attractive, which made Li-kun attracted to her. Tomoyo was just being Tomoyo. The dark haired girl sighed quietly and turned back around to face Eriol, who was staring at her this whole time. She put on her best smile and sipped her tea. "Where are you going to be staying now that the mansion is completely abandoned?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. We might rent a hotel or something to stay in."  
  
Tomoyo shook her head. "Why don't you stay here for a while? I have enough room here for two people, or three if you count Suppi-chan with his real form."  
  
Eriol peeked his head towards the living room, then turned his head back at the dark haired girl who's back was leaning against the counter. "Your mom won't mind?"  
  
The lavender eyed girl smiled. "Oh, my mom wouldn't mind still if she was here. She's away on a business trip in New York."   
  
Eriol grinned. "All right. If it's all right with you, I guess we'll take your offer." This was going to be his chance to see what was going on the kawaii Tomoyo's mind. Despite the lack of closeness he had with this girl, Eriol also felt fatherly in a way towards his successor's and his descendant's close friend. Anyone friends with his cute descendant and his Sakura, would most definitely be part of him. He was going to say something more flattering, when the door bell rang. Tomoyo excused herself to answer the door. Eriol followed her out of the kitchen, for he knew exactly who would be ringing the door bell with a knock. He watched as Tomoyo opened the door, revealing Nakuru's concerned face.   
  
"Tomoyo-san! I need your help! My young master is..." she paused when she noticed Eriol standing there only a few feet away. "Eriol-sama... I thought you disappeared?"  
  
Eriol, with his deep set voice brightened. "Don't worry Nakuru, I will never disappear from your sight."   
  
Those words made Nakuru slightly grimace. She knew exactly what he thought she meant. She was afraid for him. Afraid that if he disappeared, where will their existence lie then? She didn't want a new master. Nevertheless, she forced a smile on her face as to not show her feelings too much. Inviting herself in, Nakuru quickly gave Tomoyo a hug, then looked around the Daidouji home. "Wow! This is nice!" She dropped the suitcases on the ground and entered the main foyer.  
  
Eriol smirked. He had forgotten than Nakuru has never been inside Tomoyo's home. He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head as he watched Nakuru examine the portrait in the living room of Tomoyo-san. She squealed in delight, commenting on Tomoyo about how she looked so beautiful. Eriol couldn't have agreed more. Tomoyo was simply a beautiful creature, but he knew as well that Tomoyo was breaking apart. Deep down inside, despite all the smiles, Daidouji Tomoyo had a frown in her heart. He watched as Nakuru turned back around to examine the portrait some more and for that one moment, Eriol noticed Tomoyo frown. "Nakuru-san, Tomoyo has asked us to stay at her place while we stay here."  
  
Nakuru glanced at Tomoyo and smiled. "Wow! Thank you, Tomoyo-san! That is so generous of you! Personally, I would have preferred Sakura, but since she isn't here, I think you're an exception!" She gave Tomoyo a kind hug, without realizing the extent of what she had just said. However, despite her words, Tomoyo just smiled in response.  
  
Eriol gritted his teeth. Sometimes, Nakuru could be the worst air-head ever. Then again, she could not read people's minds so he couldn't blame her. Being overly excited enabled her to see through people clearly. "Where is Suppi-chan?" Eriol asked, breaking the silence that now surrounded them. "Isn't he suppose to be with you?"  
  
Nakuru shrugged, looking at the floral ceramic vases at the foyer. "Suppi? I don't know what you're talking about." She pretended not to care about Eriol's other servant and pretended to be interested in the vase.   
  
The dark haired boy sighed. "Where is he, Nakuru? What did you do with him?"  
  
Unable to take any of it, Nakuru jerked her head around and frowned. "He wouldn't stop nagging me about being so happy on seeing the mansion and Tomoeda again! He also called me a 'naive' person! NAIVE! HUMPH!" She stomped her foot and stormed off angrily to the kitchen.   
  
Tomoyo and Eriol watched her fuming in rage towards the kitchen. Eriol turned to Tomoyo and bowed his head in apology. "I'm sorry about Nakuru's behavior, Daidouji-san."  
  
The dark haired girl shook her head. "There's no need to be sorry." She turned and grabbed the two suitcases Nakuru dropped. Eriol followed her and grabbed them instead from her hand.  
  
"It's all right, I can take it to our room," he spoke.   
  
Tomoyo sighed and smiled. She grabbed one, which she could tell was his, because it was lighter than the other. "How about we share the service?" she said, turning around to face the staircase. "Follow me," she said. Tomoyo walked up the stairs, with Eriol closely behind, unwilling to argue anymore.  
  
  
  
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The night was spent awake, thinking of Eriol's arrival at her place. She thought about Eriol's change in appearance and the unchangeable overjoyed personality of Nakuru and Suppi-chan's moods. Tomoyo sat on her chair and wrote in her diary. There were many things in her mind. She was sad and happy at the same time. At times, she felt like the whole world was abandoning her and at other times, she felt consumed with a variety of mixed emotions. She missed Syaoran. She loved him and she loves him still. She proclaimed his love for him when he first came back to Japan after a few months of being away. That was the time that Sakura went vacationing to Korea for a class field trip and Syaoran ended up hanging out with Tomoyo all the time. Eventually, they grew close and Tomoyo began to feel something that she has never felt before. It was just before Sakura was coming home that Tomoyo felt she needed to tell him how she cared for him more than a friend....  
  
~Flashback~  
  
  
  
  
The autumn breeze was beginning to show as she stood waiting for him. Wind blew across her long, dark tresses, twisting her hair into small, untangled knots. The leaves had now changed and the long awaited September was near. With trembling hands, which was mostly from the fear and not from the cold, she wrapped her coat tighter around her. She looked up and noticed him coming, regretting now of ever calling him to meet him at the park.   
  
"Konnichi-wa, Tomoyo-san," Syaoran greeted. He walked up to her and gave her a smile, unlike the loving smile he usually gave to Sakura. She could tell that Syaoran was excited about seeing Sakura again and she felt pained on thinking about it.   
  
"Konnichi-wa, Syaoran-kun," she greeted back, watching his handsome face with a smile.  
  
"You called me to meet you here? What's going on?" Syaoran folded his arms across his chest and waited patiently for her to answer him.  
  
Tomoyo took a deep breath. "I called to tell you something and-" She fidgeted with her fingers and shuffled her feet nervously.  
  
Syaoran saw this and was immediately concerned. "What is it?"  
  
The dark haired girl looked up, her face flushing, then looked back down shyly. She mumbled some words, but Syaoran could not hear it. He moved closer and leaned his ear closer to her.  
  
"What did you say?" he asked.  
  
Without thinking, Tomoyo wrapped his arms around Syaoran-kun and kissed him on the lips, only to be pushed away by Syaoran himself. He looked at her, aghast by her actions and could only stand there stiffly.  
  
Tomoyo's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she did. "I- I'm sorry Syaoran-kun..." She turned and fled, not giving Syaoran a chance to know what was going on, but he had a slight idea. He watched her turn a corner with tears in her eyes and disappeared.  
  
  
~end flashback~  
  
  
Tears flooded her eyes. Tomoyo put her pen down on top of her journal and looked straight ahead. There were moments that she wished she had never done what she did. It was her fault that Syaoran went back to Hong Kong and it was her fault that she lost her best friend, Sakura. She should never have done it and Tomoyo found herself drowning deeper into the dark void. No one was going to ever pull her out. She stared at the wall ahead of her, more tears soaking the fine paper of her journal. It fell one by one like rain as Tomoyo closed her journal and rested her head down on the table with a slight ease, but the burden still did not leave her. She closed her eyes, her heart still beating with the needness to be comforted by someone, but no one was there. No one dared to come near her, because she was just Tomoyo. She was not Sakura. She was not Syaoran's love interest, because he was Sakura's. That's the whole story of it all. It's a Syoaran+Sakura love story, not a Syaoran+Tomoyo story.   
  
Eventually, Tomoyo fell to sleep, unaware the whole time she was awake in her room that someone was watching her nearby, concerned for her well being and the feelings in her heart. He walked inside her room undetected and watched her sleeping form with her head craned on the table. He tucked a piece of strand behind her ear and frowned. "If you want someone to comfort you, Tomoyo-san, let someone in first," he whispered, watching as tears continued to fall on the table. He placed a hand on her shoulder, turned and closed the door behind her, leaving her on that sleeping position.   
  
The tears that fell from her eyes stopped falling like rain, replacing them with the sunlight above the heads of the world. An empty void did not exist at that moment and Tomoyo found herself surrounded in wild flowers.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Okay that was weird. You must be wondering, yes there is a slight T+S, but that was only for one moment! We all know that Syaoran loves Sakura. And you can probably guess that this is kind of like a square or whatever you call it. Sakura loves Syaoran, Syaoran loves Sakura, but Tomoyo loves Syaoran and Eriol is beginning to fall for Tomoyo. That's how it is! :) 


	3. Seeing

Note: Hi all! Oh well, I guess not all of us can have many reviews. Now I know my fic will not go anywhere, but this time I will never give up! Anyway, poor, Tomoyo, she is in turmoil. I know you guys are itching for a S+S thing so... yeah, here it is. There will be a slight S+T so be warned before you read this if you don't like the idea... just slightly!  
  
  
  
Chapter 3 - Seeing   
  
  
  
  
She woke up with the sound of a hiss from downstairs. Tomoyo opened her eyes and looked around tiredly. "Nani? (what?)" The dark haired girl found herself lying in bed, still fully clothed in the dress she wore yesterday with the blanket wrapped around her warmly. She remembered sleeping with her head rested on her table. A smell of cooked eggs interrupted her thoughts. A sniff escaped her nose and her eyes widened in fear. "Iieeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (noooo!!!) I must have left something on last night! Kami-sama! (God!)" She ripped the blanket off of her and ran down the stairs, gasping for breath just after yelling for a moment and to the kitchen. She paused when she noticed Eriol turning around with a smile on his face. In his hands he was holding a spatula.  
  
"Ohayo(good morning), Daidouji-san!" Eriol greeted, waving his spatula at her. "I made breakfast. Do you like scrambled or sunny side up?"   
  
Tomoyo stared at him. "Nani?" Many questions ran through her mind. Was he just pretending not to notice that he carried her to her bed? Or just being a gentleman as he always is?  
  
Eriol laughed. "I forgot that you haven't tried English food before. This is how we make eggs." He paused and looked at her, waiting for an answer. When she didn't, he sighed and grinned. "Would you like to sit down or are you going to stand eating?" As Tomoyo observed Eriol as he turned off the stove and removed the pot, then poured the eggs on an empty plate on the table.   
  
Tomoyo absently sat down on the chair where she usually sat, the one closest to the front door and stared at the plates, forks and cups. Odd looking eggs that she has never seen been cooked before and eight strips of bacon were prepared on plates in the middle of the table and rice, the most essential part of Japanese culture, was also prepared in a large ceramic bowl that she used mostly for her leftovers. "You did all of this?" She looked up as Eriol sat down across from her. "Why?"   
  
The dark haired youth smiled. "It's just my way of saying thank you for being so generous to us. You are so kind, Tomoyo-san."  
  
The girl in front of him blushed. He had called her by her first name.   
  
"Oh, come on, I'm sure it's all right now that we can call each other by our first names. You may call me Eriol, if you feel comfortable." He picked up his fork and grabbed the bowl full of rice and dropped some on his plate, then took the eggs and scooped some up. When he was finished with filling his plate with the eggs and the rice, he used his fork to scoop up some portions of eggs and rice and placed it inside his mouth to eat.   
  
Tommoyo observed this as she sat, then stared down at her own plate. Everything was all ready for her to eat, but there was something missing that was not quite right. She looked at Eriol. "Eriol-kun?" She felt really awkward calling him that. All the years, which was only for a year, she has known him, to her he was just Hiragizawa-kun.   
  
Eriol stopped to look at her. "Yes?"   
  
Tomoyo searched around for a chopstick. "Where are my chopsticks?"  
  
The dark haired magician laughed. "I put fork there so maybe you can try to use the fork. It is the English way of doing it," he explained. He put down his fork and reached over to her side. Eriol picked up her fork and showed her how to use the fork. "In order for you to eat, you just use the fork to scoop up the food and then put it in your mouth, like what I did."  
  
Tomoyo felt really embarrassed for being so naïve about English culture. How can she be so blind? In the past four years, Daidouji Tomoyo has been studying history and culture about other countries, especially the culture of England. She remembered reading about 'forks' in a humorous book written by an English author named Garith Sharter. "Oh yes, now I remember," she said. In truth, Tomoyo did not remember anything her history and culture teacher taught her. She took the fork back from Eriol and did as she was told. She was a fast learner so there was no problem for her to get the hang of it.   
  
After a few moments of silence, Tomoyo glanced at Eriol, her mind suddenly going back to how she ended up on her bed that night. "Eriol-kun?" The awkwardness of calling him by his first name was still there.  
  
Eriol looked up, as he stopped chewing on his food.   
  
Tomoyo took a deep breath. She didn't know how to ask him about it. "Um... Do you know how I ended up on bed last night? Did you... Did you..." She bit her lip nervously.  
  
Eriol arched an eyebrow. Coyly, he shrugged and swallowed his food. "What do you mean? I went to sleep even before you did." He scooped some more food on his fork and continued to eat.  
  
The dark haired girl sighed quietly. 'Well, it was worth a shot,' she thought. "I just want to say thank you for this," she said, changing the subject.  
  
The young magician smiled. "You welcome. It was my way of saying thank you for your generosity."   
  
"This is really good English breakfast," she spoke, twirling her fork around on the plate. She looked down and stared at the empty plate. "Where did you learn to cook like that?" There were so many thoughts in her head. She wondered sometimes if Syaoran left because of her or Sakura. Ever since she kissed him the day before Sakura came back, he avoided her until then. He kept close to Sakura and was never close to her. Whenever Tomoyo approached the two, Syaoran would immediately make an excuse to leave the two. When he left for Hong Kong, Tomoyo was devastated. He never once spoke to her. She guessed at that point that their friendship was over. She ruined everything. She ruined her friendship with Syaoran and her friendship with Sakura.  
  
"Tomoyo-san?" Eriol's voice broke through her thoughts.   
  
"Huh?" She looked up and gasped when she noticed whom she was staring at. "Syaoran-kun?" Tears fell from her eyes and quickly wiped them away. Why of all people did she have to see Syaoran through Eriol?   
  
Eriol winced as Tomoyo called him by Syaoran's name. "What?"  
  
Tomoyo shook her head of her thoughts and sighed. Ashamed, she looked down as her hair now covered part of her face and stood up. "I don't want to be late for school. This was good dinner and I'll see you soon." With that said, she turned quickly and fled from the kitchen and to her bedroom to change.   
  
Eriol watched her run up the stairs, frowning in concern.   
  
  
  
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"Ohayo, Tomoyo-san!" Tomoyo closed her locker and stuffed her books in her backpack before finally looking up to see who was talking to her. A girl with long pigtails ran to her, dressed in her high school uniform. Li Meilin approached the girl with a smile on her face. Following behind her was a young man their age, brown hair and green eyes, reminding Tomoyo of someone she knew. He was tall, yet, not as tall as Eriol was, maybe five foot eleven. He was obviously taller than Syaoran. After letting go of her obsession with Syaoran, Meilin fell madly in love with this young man by the name of Yoshi Shimizu. However, like Tomoyo, Meilin had to go through depression to go through the emotion of knowing that Syaoran cared for Sakura even more than she did towards him. Upon meeting Yoshi, Meilin decided to stay in Japan with her family, who also decided to stay with her. Meilin and Tomoyo were one in the same, but unlike Tomoyo, Meilin's heart turned towards another man. She had found someone else and this was more than just an infatuation. This was real love for Meilin. Since Syaoran's departure and no Sakura to talk to, Meilin and Tomoyo eventually became close friends.   
  
"Ohayo, Meilin-san!" Tomoyo greeted back, her smile hiding the emptiness in her heart. She watched as they approached her. Meilin gave her a quick hug, before they heard the bell ring. Meilin glanced at her and frowned.  
  
"Oh I wish we had longer mornings!" she complained, stomping her foot angrily. She grabbed Yoshi's hand and turned to Tomoyo. "I'll see you at lunch, Tomoyo-san!" With that said, she dragged Yoshi with her to their first class, which was PhysEd. Tomoyo watched them turn a corner, with a slight envy in her heart. Why was it so easy for Meilin to get over Syaoran? Why was it so easy for her to find someone to love? With the thoughts in her head, she closed her locker and proceeded to her next class as well. She had a test for Math and she wished now that she called in sick, but she knew she wasn't all that sick physically. In truth, she was sick emotionally.   
  
  
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"Eriol-sama? Are you sure this is wise?" Eriol ignored Nakuru's words and opened the door to the school. Despite his silence, Nakuru followed behind while he led her through the abandoned hallway. In his hand, he held a bag. He looked around the classrooms, attempting to stop time just to look for Tomoyo, however he didn't. Wasting magic on something like this was unlike him. He used his magic with a purpose and he wasn't about to use it for the sake of giving lunch to Tomoyo. He would have to deal with it while time passed on.   
  
"Excuse me, may I help you?" Eriol and Nakuru paused dead on their tracks and slowly turned around to find a stick figured woman with thick glasses staring at them. She looked at Eriol. "Do you go to this school young man?"  
  
Eriol smiled. He lifted up a hand and shook his head. "Well no, but would you kindly tell me where I can find Daidouji Tomoyo?" Well, maybe a little magic wouldn't hurt.  
  
The woman's eyes turned purple. "Yes. She has math class right now in room 203."  
  
"Thank you. Now, you may go back to your office and forget that you ever met me," Eriol whispered in his deep voice. The woman nodded, turned and headed to what appeared to be the direction to her office. Eriol and Nakuru watched her go.   
  
Nakuru, after realizing her master used magic, turned to Eriol and frowned. "Eriol-sama, are you not allowed to use magic without a purpose?"  
  
"Of course I am," he said looking at her with a smile.   
  
  
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"Ohayo, kawaii Tomoyo!" Tomoyo didn't have to turn to see whom it was talking to her. She really hated that voice, especially if it belonged to Yukio Yamanishi, the male with the most hormones out of Japan. Yukio prides in himself thinking that Tomoyo has a 'thing' for him. The truth was, Tomoyo resented the very thought of ever liking Yukio and the only thing that she liked about him was being thrown into the wall face first. Instead of turning around to pound his face in, she didn't answer him, nor make any gestures to say, 'hello.' She felt him sit down beside her, but she did not acknowledge his presence.   
  
The bell finally rang for class to begin. Tomoyo ignored the forever-staring eyes of Yukio and paid attention to her sensei as he entered the room. He put his books and his bag down on the table and looked around. No one seemed to have notice his presence as all the students in school continued to chat amongst each other. To get their attention, Takahashi-sensei grabbed the giant ruler and slammed it on the table. All the students flinched and the room was suddenly quiet, but all Tomoyo could do was stifle a giggle.   
  
"Can we begin class now, please?" Takahashi-sensei was a funny individual. He was handsome for his age of forty years and was quite tall. He had dark brown hair with gray roots showing, that anyone can tell that this man was aging. "Now, we will start with basic theories. Please open your text books to page two fifty-five." Everyone opened his or her books as being told, including Tomoyo, who was trying her hardest not to yell at Yukio.   
  
After a while of note writing, Tomoyo's friend, Misaki leaned towards her and whispered something in her ear that she could not quite catch. The dark haired girl stopped writing and looked at her friend with a puzzled look.  
  
"What?" she whispered. Misaki glanced quickly at their sensei, making sure he wasn't looking and pointed her pen towards the door. Tomoyo followed her pen towards the door and found Eriol standing outside, smiling at her. She stared at him, furrowing her eyebrows curiously.  
  
"Wow, Tomoyo! I didn't know you had a boy friend!" came Kana's loud voice, but not loud enough for their sensei to hear. Everyone started to giggle. However, this brought attention towards Yukio, who heard what Kana had said and looked at Tomoyo. Tomoyo blushed fiercely and shook her head at Kana.   
  
"He's not my boy friend, Kana," she replied. Although she would be willing to admit it so Yukio would finally leave her alone. Despite the temptation, Tomoyo did nothing to keep Yukio away from her. She glanced towards Eriol again, then back at Kana and Misaki. Kana, with long dark hair stared at Misaki, with the short brown hair and giggled. "Seriously, he's not my boyfriend."  
  
"Sure he isn't, Tomoyo-san!" Misaki whispered. "I mean, come on, he's awfully cute to be JUST your friend!" She laughed. "Which girl would be able to resist his charms?"  
  
"Yeah, so bug off, kaiju! (monster)" Yukio spoke, leaning his head back to look at his cousin. However, despite his insult, Misaki stuck her tongue out at him and stared back at Tomoyo.  
  
Tomoyo glanced back at Eriol and smiled, waving back at him.  
  
"Awwww, look at that! Tomoyo is waving hello to her boyfriend!" Kana said, fluttering her eyelashes. "That is just so KAWAII Tomoyo!"  
  
Yukio turned red in the face in frustration.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend!" Tomoyo yelled, a little too loud. Takahashi-sensei turned his head around away from his writing and glared at all four of them, especially towards Tomoyo, where the yelling came from.   
  
"Is there a problem, Ms. Daidouji?"   
  
Tomoyo turned red in embarrassment. She shook her head and grinned nervously. "Oh, not at all, Takahashi-sensei," she replied, beads of sweat invisibly dropping from her forehead. "I was just trying to listen to you talk."  
  
"Well, if you want to listen to me talk, then don't talk." Despite their sensei's dashing good looks, he was quite a jerk towards some of them, especially towards Tomoyo. The only person he was favouring by far was Natsumi Watanabe, a suck up to every teacher in the school. Natsumi glanced at Tomoyo and glowered at her. Tomoyo just ignored her.  
  
  
  
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The class was soon over. Everyone filed out of the room respectfully, Tomoyo being the last to leave along with her two friends, Kana and Misaki. Waiting for them at the front was the ever-persistent Yukio, who greeted Tomoyo with a smile on his face. When she stepped out of the classroom, Yukio attempted to wrap his arms around her shoulders, but Tomoyo dodged out of the way and walked to where Eriol was waiting by the bench of the main hallway. Yukio watched her go, grinding his teeth in frustration. 'Who is that guy?' he thought, clenching his fists in anger.  
  
"Moshi moshi (hello), Tomoyo-san," Eriol greeted, bowing his head. He gripped tightly unto the bag and smiled, handing it to her. "I just came by to give this to you."  
  
Tomoyo took the bag from his hand. She opened it a little bit and looked inside. There was a large sandwich wrapped in plastic foil and a piece of homemade apple pie. She jerked her head back towards Eriol in surprise. "My lunch?" Eriol nodded. "You didn't have to Eriol-kun. I could've bought food from the cafeteria."  
  
The blue haired boy shrugged. "I just thought maybe you'd go hungry or something." In serious matter, he wanted to see how she was doing, despite the circumstances.   
  
Tomoyo smiled. "This is very thoughtful of you, Eriol-kun. You didn't really have to."  
  
Yukio gritted his teeth until he felt pieces of his teeth being chipped away. He clenched his fists even tighter, his knuckles turning the palest white. Misaki stopped and turned around to face the back of her cousin's head and sighed. She walked over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling her with him to their next class.   
  
"Come on, Yuki-kun! I don't want you to be late for class again! What would your okasan (mother) say if you were late for another History class? Both of us would be in trouble! Your okasan would be calling mine in Korea back home, which means I'd have to come home and see my step dad again! And I don't want that! Come on!" She pulled harder, but despite her efforts, Yukio was much stronger and much more determined to get Tomoyo away from the strange blue haired boy. It was until Kana came for Misaki's aid did Yukio finally gave up at that point to go to math class.   
  
  
They were silent for a while. Tomoyo didn't know what else to say at that point, until Eriol broke their silence. He smiled. "Well, I think you better go join them as well for History," he said, turning around. He glanced over his shoulder and waved his hand good bye. "I'll see you back home, Tomoyo-san."  
  
The only thing Tomoyo could do was wave back. She was still quite surprised that he came all the way to school just to drop off her lunch. She watched as Eriol, with Nakuru closely behind, who appeared from the corner, leave the small building of her high school. "Sayonara, Eriol-kun," she whispered, as if they won't ever see each other again. She turned around and headed to the direction of her History class.  
  
  
  
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"You get over Kaho very quickly, Hiragizawa," a deep, raspy voice spoke in his head. "I applaud you for moving so quickly towards another girl. I gotta admit, she is one beautiful creature I have ever set my eyes upon."  
  
"What do you want with me?" He whipped his head from side to side, trying to speak with the voice as clear as possible.   
  
"Simple as it is, Hiragizawa... give me half of your deck and I won't hurt the girl," the other voice spoke.  
  
Eriol shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows in frustration. "Don't you dare touch, Tomoyo, or else-"  
  
"Or else what Eriol?" the voice hissed, interrupting him. "Are you going to use your magic on me? Tsk! Tsk! You know that's not healthy for you, Eriol. You weren't meant to hurt anyone, especially an innocent mortal like me." Eriol could hear the mock in his voice and he could easily imagine a man walking around with a staff in his hand, something similar to Eriol's. "If you don't want Tomoyo hurt, or even Sakura, I suggest you get your act together and give it all up."  
  
Eriol said nothing.  
  
"Very well. I'll give you some more time and maybe I'll be nicer." Eriol could feel the voice disappearing from his head as if the man was walking away from him physically. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. For years, this voice has been torturing him and never once did he see who was behind it all. "Kaho..." he whispered, closing his eyes once more.  
  
  
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Tomoyo walked down the hall thinking about Eriol and his kindness. In her hand, she carried her lunch bag that Eriol gave to her as she entered the cafeteria. Her two friends, Misaki and Kana waved at her from the table they usually sit. Yukio was already there, smiling goofily and patted a spot beside him. Tomoyo frowned, ignoring his offer and decided to sit opposite to where Yukio sat. When she arrived, Misaki and Kana were whispering something in each other's ear. Unable to take the secrecy anymore, Tomoyo glanced at the two and frowned.  
  
"Okay, what are you guys whispering about?"   
  
Misaki looked at her friend and shrugged. "Nothing. What are you talking about?" She stared at her friend innocently.  
  
Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Never mind."  
  
Yukio watched the two with suspicious eyes. Whatever they two were planning, he knew he wasn't going to like it. Tomoyo is his and his alone. No one else should be able to get her.  
  
"Moshi moshi, Tomoyo-san," a deep voice spoke. Tomoyo felt a tap on her shoulder. Yukio looked up, his eyes furrowing in suspicion.  
  
The two girls stopped whispering and looked up at the source of the voice. Tomoyo glanced behind her and there, standing with his face expressionless, was Li Syaoran. Startled by his appearance, Tomoyo quickly stood up, unaware of the things around her. Her knees hit the table, spilling the glass of milk Misaki was drinking on her lap. She stared into the eyes of Li Syaoran and, no longer could she contain the emptiness in her heart, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.  
  
"You're here," she whispered in his ear. "I'm so glad to see you, Li-Kun."  
  
Surprised, he patted her back gently and forced a smile on his face. "I'm glad to see you too, Tomoyo-san."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Wow, isn't that something? Confused? And what's Syaoran doing back in Japan? Did something happen between him and Sakura? Well, find out what's going on later chapters!!! See ya!!!!!!!! 


	4. Jealous???

Note: Hi all! Sorry for the long wait on this story! I know you guys are wondering now: what is Syaoran doing back in Japan? Did something happen between him and Sakura? What's going on with Eriol? Is he going crazy or is there really danger again now that he's back in Japan? Find out on this chapter! Oh, as you already noticed, Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran and Eriol are not mine, they belong to the CCS maker people. Sorry, I haven't been paying attention much to CCS lately. But Yukio, Misaki and Kana (the trio) are mine to keep so yeah.........................  
  
  
Chapter 4 - Jealous????   
  
  
  
She released her grip from around his neck, feeling rather awkward standing there, feeling emotional in front of her friends. She pulled away quickly, shyly looking around, wondering how many people were staring at her. Misaki and Kana snickered, whispering to each other as if it was a big thing, while Yukio glared straight at the back of his young rival's head, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Tomoyo glanced back at Syaoran and blushed briefly, but it quickly faded when she noticed the look Syaoran had plastered on his face.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, feeling concerned for the young brunette.  
  
Syaoran glanced at her friends, and then turned his attention back to Tomoyo. He grabbed her arm gently and leaned close to her ear. "Can I talk to you alone?" he whispered.  
  
Tomoyo pulled back and looked into his eyes. Something was definitely wrong and Tomoyo could feel it in her heart. Whenever something bad was happening, Syaoran's eyes would turn into thin slits, usually changing into a different colour rather than amber. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded her head finally and grabbed his hand. The trio watched as they went and when they were out of sight, Misaki turned to Kana and smiled.  
  
"Tomoyo is having such a lucky day! Two really cute guys! I wish I was as lucky as her," Misaki sighed, resting her chin on her upward palm. Kana followed her lead as they both watched Syaoran and Tomoyo turn a corner.  
  
Yukio watched on out the door, his teeth chattering, the white surfaces grinding against each other. He decided not to take his eyes off of the door, hoping that the young man was hurting her so he could go rescue his beloved Tomoyo; not that he wanted her to be hurt in that way. Maybe just emotionally, something that will make the young man known as Syaoran, say, "I met someone else."   
  
An image of a crying Tomoyo running back inside the cafeteria envisioned in his mind. She would come running to him and wrap her arms around him for comfort. Then they would kiss.   
  
Yukio sighed, his eyes into a dreamy gaze. He was relaxed for a while, until Misaki's loud voice rang in his ears. He felt a slap at his back and he jerked his head around to glare at his cousin. "What's the big idea, Misa?"  
  
Misaki grinned. "You're never going to get a chance with her, Yuki! Have you seen the size of those two guys? They can beat the crap out of you easily!"   
  
Yukio felt hurt, but he didn't show it. "Well, I can get her even without fighting anyone! You just watch!" He stood up angrily and picked up his tray. The brown haired teenager turned around towards the trash bin and dumped the remaining paper plate inside. He forced himself not to glance back at his cousin and when it was successful, he turned and walked away.  
  
Misaki rolled her eyes, sighing in annoyance. "You're hopeless, Yukio," she whispered more to herself than to her cousin. She paced herself and followed Yukio out the door.  
  
  
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"What is it, Syaoran-kun?" her voice seemed evident that she was concerned about - certainly nothing if he doesn't talk sooner.   
  
Syaoran looked around first; to make sure no one was listening, before turning to face her. "I came here to tell you about Sakura."  
  
Her heart sunk. How can he come all the way here, making her think he came here for her and then just mention about Sakura? She loved Sakura, don't get her wrong, but her love for Syaoran was even stronger. Maybe he was ready to tell Tomoyo that he asked Sakura to marry her? After all, they are high school sweethearts. "What about Sakura?" she asked, the tone of her voice coming out rather cold and uncaring.   
  
However, Syaoran didn't seem to notice. "It came unexpectedly and we didn't know what else to do. It just came yesterday when I was picking her up from school. I don't know what happened but she just collapsed on the pavement. I had to carry her all the way home, where her otousan and oniichan were waiting."  
  
Tomoyo's eyes widened. How could she have ever thought of such a thing? She was being a terrible person and him saying those words proved it all. "How is she?"  
  
Syaoran shrugged. "I don't know." He paused, feeling uneasy about the whole situation. At first he felt uncomfortable going all the way to Japan from China, just to tell the girl who had kissed him that one windy day about the girl he loved more. He knew there was a possibility that Tomoyo was still in love with him, and she proved it by the emotional hug she had given him just now. "She asked for you, that's why I'm here."  
  
She gulped. She was not surprised, just shocked that Sakura could ever ask for her when all she has ever done for her dear friend was betray her. How can she face her best friend, knowing of her feelings for Syaoran? She pointed at herself and looked into the boy's eyes. "She asked for me?"  
  
Syaoran nodded. "Yes. I need a straight answer now," he said, more sternly this time. For him, time was never an option. If he had to do something, he had to do it quick, with no exceptions. His mission was to bring Tomoyo to China with him where her presence could sooth Sakura's dying spirit. "The next flight is in five hours and the airports are busy this time of year."  
  
The dark haired girl nodded. "I understand. I will go with you though. Sakura is my family, my best friend and my only companion. I can never go on without her."   
  
"Syaoran-kun?!" A voice echoed in the hallway. They both recognized the voice and by the time Syaoran and Tomoyo turned to see who it was, Meiling appeared from out of nowhere, practically smoldering him with her hug. Syoaran nodded silently, feeling quite uncomfortable and Yoshi, the boy she appeared with uneasy.   
  
After careful introductions between Syaoran and Yoshi, Meiling turned to the two with suspicious eyes. "What are you guys doing here?" The Chinese born girl looked around, her eyes furrowing like a detective looking for clues in a murder.   
  
Syaoran looked at her and frowned. "Meiling, this isn't really the time to be supicious of me and Tomoyo. It's about Sakura."  
  
Meiling stopped pacing around and looked at her cousin. "What about her? What happened to Sakura?" Her voice was in sheer panic. She grabbed Syaoran's collar and began to violently shake him back and forth. "What happened?! TELL ME?!"  
  
Tomoyo placed a hand on Meilin's shoulder. "Calm down, Meiling-san. There is simply nothing to panic for. Sakura is fine. Syaoran just informed me that she just collapsed and was sent to bed right away. It could just be a fever or something, but she asked for me, so I will go see her."  
  
Meiling frowned. "A fever?" She turned to Syaoran to see if it was true.  
  
Syaoran had no choice but to nod. Tomoyo knew how to calm Meiling down. However, despite the hope in Tomoyo's words that Sakura would be fine, he felt rather uncertain of that. There was strange aura coming out of Sakura that made him feel that he needed to inform Tomoyo of the situation. Kero and Yue did not know what to do either, but maybe Tomoyo can ease Sakura's pain with her friend by her side. "We need to go, Meiling." He turned to Tomoyo. "Are you ready?"  
  
Tomoyo nodded. "Yes, but first I have to get some things that I can bring for Sakura's illness. There are roots and herbs that can help her with her fever still stacked away at my home."   
  
Syaoran nodded and walked pass her, leading the way out the door, leaving Meiling speechless. Tomoyo followed suit, feeling guilty for leaving Meiling un-informed like that. She looked ahead at Syaoran, who had walked over to his car, which was a 2000 black Beatle. He unlocked the door to his side, and then sat down. He reached over to the passenger side and unlocked the door from there so Tomoyo can get in. Once Tomoyo reached the car, she opened the door and stepped inside the roomy automobile, making herself comfortable in the soft texture of the cushion. She glanced over at Syaoran, whose eyes were suddenly on the road. He paused awkwardly for a moment, then, without a word towards Tomoyo, inserted the key in the ignition and turned on the engine. Tomoyo eyed him worriedly. There was a look there that she certainly didn't miss about Syaoran. His look was distant from her and vague that only someone with the knowledge of his personality could ever detect that. There was something he was not telling her about Sakura.   
  
What if Sakura was dying?   
  
Tomoyo swallowed those thoughts out of her mind and shook her head in despair. 'No! Sakura can't die!' she thought. 'She is a strong person!' However, no matter how many times she tried to release those thoughts, it would come back haunting her and every time she turned to look at Syaoran, there was proof that something was definitely wrong.  
  
  
  
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He opened his eyes and looked around tiredly. He felt a soft cushion squeezed between the palms of his hands. How did he end up on the couch? A pair of amber eyes gleamed at him.  
  
"Is he all right?" a woman's voice spoke.  
  
The blue head moved to the direction of the voice and nodded. "Yes, Eriol-sama seems fine now." He turned back to the blue haired young man. "Are you all right, Master?"  
  
Eriol looked around some more, and then slowly sat up from the couch. "What has happened?" He vaguely remembered making tea in the kitchen for Tomoyo's return and that was all. He couldn't remember the rest of what had happened.   
  
A head popped into his view and strands of purple hair fell straight from her shoulders. She looked at Eriol and frowned in concern. "Suppi-chan and I just came back from the park and we found you lying on the kitchen floor. We were so worried something terrible has happened to you, Master." She sat down on a smaller couch across from him and stared at the form that was Eriol. Eriol stood up quickly, feeling dizzy by the time he made it up completely.   
  
"Is it him again, Master?" Spinel asked.  
  
Eriol looked up suddenly and averted his eyes towards the front door. Spinel and Nakuru turned their heads in the same direction his eyes were and watched as the knob began to turn.   
  
"OOOH! That must be Tomoyo-san coming home from school now!" Nakuru squeaked.  
  
Eriol glanced at the watch hanging in the foyer and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "But it is only pass lunchtime. Shouldn't she have another class?"  
  
The door opened, revealing, indeed, the dark haired girl and the residential owner of the home Eriol and the others were staying in. Tomoyo paused and stared at them. Eriol waved and smiled, while Nakuru jumped from her seat and ran to her, only to stop in shock. Tomoyo moved forward and when she was inside, a familiar figure appeared from behind her. The moment that figure stepped inside the room, Eriol turned to that direction and stared into the eyes of a glaring Syaoran.   
  
In a sudden motion, Syaoran ran to him, pinning him against the wall with one elbow against Eriol's neck and his other hand on Eriol's stomach to stop him from breathing. Yet, despite the violent outburst Syaoran was causing from Nakuru, who stood behind him shouting, Eriol did not make any attempts to move.   
  
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Syaoran yelled in his face. Tomoyo and Nakuru was too shocked to stop Syaoran's screams.  
  
Eriol grinned and with one swift move, twisted Syaoran's arms behind his back and pinned him in the same wall. "I am only here to visit, Syaoran. You have to concentrate and not lose your temper or you'll never be able to save Sakura," he whispered.  
  
Syaoran retaliated by jabbing the back of his foot against the taller boy's stomach. Eriol backed away in pain and the shorter boy was going to make another attack, when Tomoyo jumped in between them, putting her hands out towards him.  
  
"That's enough, Syaoran!" she yelled, pushing him gently out of Eriol's way. Eriol grimaced, struggling to stand up straight.   
  
"What is he doing here, Tomoyo?!" Syaoran pointed towards Eriol and glanced at Tomoyo, giving her a curious look.  
  
Tomoyo sighed. "He is here to visit, Syaoran and that's all."  
  
The brown haired boy didn't seem to listen. He approached Tomoyo carefully and looked down on her. "Did he hurt you?"  
  
"How dare you make assumptions that our Master would hurt Tomoyo-san?!" came Spinel's hollow voice from out of nowhere. He flew in front of Syaoran and glared at him with his sharp eyes.  
  
Syaoran smirked. "Ask Sakura that, maybe she can give you pointers on how Eriol would hurt anyone!"  
  
Eriol said nothing. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth which, thanks to Syaoran, was given to him when he struggled and succeeded in twisting his arm behind his back. "Look, we can either fight here and destroy Tomoyo-san's home or be civil and talk this like gentlemen."  
  
The brown haired boy glowered at him. "You're the reason Sakura is suffering." Syaoran was ready to charge again, but Tomoyo standing there made him think otherwise. Hurting Tomoyo would be the last thing in his mind.   
  
Eriol shook his head. "What reason would that be? I haven't been near her since I left for England." He attempted to step forward towards Syaoran, but Tomoyo stopped him dead on his tracks.   
  
Syaoran looked closer into his eyes. There was something the blue haired man was not telling him. "I know you too well, Clow Reed. Why are you lying?"  
  
"Master is definitely not lying!" Nakuru yelled, stepping in between them as well. She planted both her arms on her hips and glared down at Syaoran. "You better watch your mouth there, descendant of Clow Reed! If it wasn't for him, Sakura would have died!" She paused when she realized what she had just revealed to everyone.  
  
Spinel shook his head. "Nakuru, can't you ever keep your mouth closed for once?" He glanced around the room, towards Syaoran and then Tomoyo. The dark coloured creature could see the disappointment in Tomoyo's face. He watched as the dark haired girl walked pass Syaoran and walked up the stairs. Spinel glanced at his master.  
  
The two men watched as Tomoyo went up the stairs, disappeared and appeared again a few seconds later with a bag of herbs in her hands. She glanced at Eriol. "Eriol, as long as you're staying in my house, there is to be honest talks between us," she simply said, before leading herself and Syaoran out the door.  
  
The way she had spoken to him, made Eriol feel awkward. He has never seen Tomoyo act so cold to him. Eight years ago, Eriol would smile as she walked by, waving at her and mocking her in a friendly way of how she was protected of Sakura so much. She would smile back, of course, her laugh making him feel welcomed of her kindness. However, as he watched the two go, he could still see the look of disappointment and anger towards Tomoyo's face. Though no one may be able to understand Tomoyo's feelings, Eriol could sense something deep in her heart that Tomoyo was crying inside.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Hm........ Was Tomoyo just angry because Syaoran came to see her because of Sakura? Or was she really disappointed in Eriol in not telling her the truth about him coming to Japan? Or is it because she was jealous of Sakura that both men are 'in love' with her? 


	5. Big trouble, in little China

Note: Sorry for the long wait, but Fanfiction has obviously been down so many times that I couldn't post up my stories and you guys might not be able to review yet cause it's VERY busy! Anyway, enjoy this chapter here!  
  
  
Chapter 5 - Big trouble, in little China  
  
  
He glanced her way and frowned. "What is he doing staying at your house, Tomoyo?" he asked, in a deep, cautious voice. Rain began to pour against the window, blocking the view of the road ahead. Syaoran turned on the windshield wipers and glanced once again at the girl sitting quietly beside him.  
  
Tomoyo sighed. She felt guilty for going against Eriol like that. Of course, he wasn't alone, but Tomoyo felt a pang in her heart when she saw the look in his face. She saw guilt there, as if regretting of not telling her about the reason why he was in Japan in the first place. Doesn't he trust her enough to tell her? After all, they were friends, despite the lack of closeness they had. "He just came for a visit, Syaoran."  
  
"Just for a visit, Tomoyo-san? What if he used magic to hurt you or-" He stopped when he noticed Tomoyo turned her head roughly at him. Her face wrinkled into anger, a face he has never seen before on her beautiful features.  
  
"Enough, Syaoran-kun! He did not come here to hurt me in any way. Stop assuming that!" She folded her arms across her chest and turned her head away from him to face the window to her right.  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened and turned his head to the road ahead. "I've never seen you like this. Why are you defending him, Tomoyo?"  
  
Tomoyo frowned and said nothing.  
  
Giving up, Syaoran closed his mouth shut and continued driving to the airport.  
  
  
  
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"I told you this was not a good idea!" She paced back and forth, glancing once and a while at the young man sitting on the couch. "Why did we come here, Master? I thought he was here?"  
  
Eriol closed his eyes and frowned. "I thought so too."   
  
"Well, it is obvious that the man we are looking for is in China. So, we have to go there and help Sakura and the others." Spinel sighed and flew from his spot on the couch, then landed softly on Eriol's shoulder. "Eriol-sama, what did the man tell you?"  
  
The blue haired man sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it right now, but we need to get to China before they do." He glanced at his two loyal creations and nodded. "Let's go."  
  
  
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It was far too long ago that he remembered that night in a rainy England. Although it was a year ago, Eriol could still reminisce the time he and Kaho proved their love for each other. It was something he could never forget, however, their night was interrupted when a large sphere fell from the skies, landing gradually on the wet cement. Eriol felt the power and the overwhelming rage inside this sphere. With no heed of warning, Kaho began to die slowly in his arms. It seems Kaho knew where she was heading as she gave him a comforting smile, before completely leaving him forever. It wasn't until the next day did the sphere finally opened, revealing a figure Eriol has not seen for centuries. He was the walking plague that wreaked the Earth, the one who destroyed Clow Reed and his people, the disease that consumed the world. Eriol felt his nightmares had come true, the ones that punctured his wounds much deeper. He still did not understand what this man has against Clow Reed, but he had a feeling that this man will stop at nothing to take revenge on him.  
  
Eriol contemplated on these thoughts as he sat on a seat in the Tokyo Airline. It has been several hours now and soon they will be landing in China. The busy streets filled Eriol's senses, almost to the brink of a headache. The noise mostly got on his nerves and people around him, talking mostly in Chinese sometimes bumped into him and apologized to him in Chinese. Obviously, people thought this young man was Chinese himself. Beside him, trotted Nakuru and inside her shoulder bag, soundlessly fast asleep, was Spinel. They reached outside as fast as thirty seconds, dodging through people without breaking a sweat and soon made it out of the airport. Eriol lead the way and stopped at the lineup of people as they waited for their rides, while Nakuru followed every move her master made. The young master lifted up his hand at the first sign of a blue taxi and it immediately stopped in front of them. Eriol sat at the back, giving Nakuru a chance to sit at the front. He warned her about not speaking to Spinel during the ride before they got in and Nakuru, with a quick roll of her eyes, nodded in response.  
  
The ride did not take long. Eriol knew where he was going and that was one thing he was thankful of for being a sorcerer. Other than that, Eriol did not enjoy being one. No one knew, but the magic itself was eating away at his soul, consuming the very insides of his mind. Eriol's growth spurt had stopped by the time he reached maturity at sixteen and he stayed the height of at least six foot two. His voice was much deeper and the magic inside him was making him feel older than eighteen. It made him weary and he kept losing his concentration during classes in college. He was growing impatient, angry and almost losing his appetite. The magic itself had made him sinful and changing him into someone else he was not known to be. His thoughts were later interrupted, when the taxi suddenly stopped and the voice of Nakuru startling him.  
  
"Master? Is this the house?" Nakuru asked, turning her head slightly towards him.  
  
Eriol blinked and looked up through the front of the window. Without doubts and hesitations, the young sorcerer nodded. "Yes, that is it. I know because-" He stopped himself short when he realized he could not reveal his magical abilities to the taxi driver. "Syaoran told us, Nakuru, remember?"  
  
Nakuru glanced at him and nodded. "Okay." She glanced at the driver and winked at him. "Thanks, sweetheart!"  
  
Eriol glanced at the taxi driver. He was pretty young, maybe in his early twenties and had a black eye. He was somewhat scrawny, but not too bony and wore a white striped shirt that looked too big for him. Underneath his large, white cap was dark hair dyed too brown. Eriol realized that Nakuru only realized that this young man was somewhat, handsome and immediately gave him a kiss on the cheek. The young sorcerer rolled his eyes and fished inside his pocket.  
  
"How much do we owe you?" he asked remembering one question in his mind during Chinese schooling, with his best Chinese language.  
  
The driver blushed after Nakuru's intimacy and glanced over his shoulder at his tall passenger. He answered a large amount of money in his language. Eriol's eyes widened and frowned. "That is too much," he replied.  
  
The driver shrugged. He made a comment on how he needed the money for his family. Eriol arched an eyebrow suspiciously and shook his head, giving the driver the most intimidating look. Nakuru looked at the driver and smiled. "How about I give you my phone number and we can have a little date?" She winked at him.  
  
The driver blushed. Although he did no understand it, Nakuru's hand on his lap made him understand completely on what she said. He said nothing and cleared his throat. He glanced at the rearview mirror and nodded, speaking in Chinese a different amount, something much smaller. Satisfied, Eriol handed him two-thousand yen and opened the door. Thanking him for his service, he hopped out of the car and closed the door behind him, closely followed by Nakuru. The driver began to back out of the driveway. Eriol glanced at Nakuru and noticing that she didn't have the shoulder bag with her, stared at her wide eyed.  
  
"Where is your bag, Nakuru?" he asked, shocked.  
  
Nakuru checked herself and glanced at Eriol in surprise. She turned her head around and left Eriol alone to run as fast as she could after the taxi.  
  
"Wait! Wait! I forgot my bag!!!!!" she yelled after him.   
  
Eriol stared at the house in front of him and stuffed his hands in his pockets.   
  
- You'll never be able to stop me, Eriol, if that's what you're thinking!   
  
The same voice hissed in his head. Eriol shook his head and frowned. "That's exactly what I intend to do, Jiro. You leave my friend alone and you won' get hurt."  
  
- My, my, I had no idea you were so sensitive! Hah! That is a laugh! Eriol, or should I say... Clow Reed... how are you going to stop me now that I have completely taken her away from you?   
  
The young man's eyes widened. "No..." he murmured.  
  
- Yesssss.....!   
  
Eriol ran to the doorstep and grabbed the knob as hard as he could. He twisted it with as much strength, but it was to no avail. He backed away an inch, attempting the only possible way he could open the door and placed a calm hand upon the door. He closed his eyes and concentrated.   
  
- It won't work, Hiragizawa! The house itself it protected by my magic so your magic is useless here!   
  
Eriol stopped short and opened his eyes. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. "You bastard....!" He whispered to himself. Behind him, he heard a car park in the driveway. The young man turned and noticed the car engine stop. Both the passenger door and the driver door opened, then stepped out two familiar faces.   
  
"What the hell are you doing here, Hiragizawa?!" Syaoran yelped, closing the door behind him as hard as he could to express his anger. He hastily began to pace towards him, clenching his fists at his sides, ready to strike the man dead, but Tomoyo had pressed a hand on his shoulder just in time to stop him. As if on impulse, Syaoran stopped and glanced back at Tomoyo.  
  
"Please, Syaoran, not here, not now. I need to see, Sakura-san." She walked pass him and strolled towards the front door as both men stared after her. When she made it there, she quickly took a quick look at Eriol before he could speak and twisted the door open. Surprised, Tomoyo gazed at Eriol in confusion, then tried to open it again. Still, it was to no avail. The door would simply not budge. "What's going on, Erio-kun? Did you do something to the door?" She turned angrily towards him and planted both her fists on her waists. "You have to start telling me, Eriol-kun... what are you hiding? Why are you using your magic to lock this door?"  
  
Eriol frowned. Tomoyo was somewhat surprised that the man before him was capable of frowning. "I did no such thing, Tomoyo-san." He nodded towards the door. "I can't open it myself because someone else had sealed this house shut of its doors. If you don't believe me, since you are the only person that I have ever trusted since I came back in Japan, then I guess there was no point for me in coming here. However..." He took a deep breath. "Sakura is in trouble and we both know that we all want to help her out. So, if you would kindly just step aside, maybe I can try again to open the door." He glanced at Syaoran, to see if he could try anything to stop him from going in. He didn't. He just stood there, helpless because of Tomoyo.  
  
Tomoyo said nothing, mezmerised by his words. He trusted her? But because of her misunderstanding, he had stopped his trust on her. Tomoyo smacked herself mentally in her head and paid attention to the tall man stepping back in front of the door. His arm brushed against hers, sending a chill down her spine. The raven-haired girl stepped back a few inches from behind him and watched him do his works. Eriol once again closed his eyes to try to unlock the door from the inside.   
  
- That's very smart to make a girl feel good about herself. Hey, Eriol? Have you had her yet? I mean, come on! She's very attractive, don't you think? Take a good look at her, Eriol. Tell me what she is to you compared to Kaho, hm?   
  
Eriol's hand slipped off the knob. He gritted his teeth in frustration and closed his eyes to stop the anger in his mind. He glanced back at Tomoyo.  
  
- That's right, Eriol. Take a good look at her, because that will be the last time you'll be able to see her!   
  
Suddenly, a mass of smoke surrounded the two. The door abruptly opened, startling Eriol and Tomoyo, then an invinsible force pushed the two inside. Syaoran ran to the door and slammed his hands down repeatedly. "Tomoyo! Tomoyo!" he screamed her name. In panic, Syaoran tried to open the door with his foot, but it was just worthless. After a couple more tries, Syaoran became tired and beaten. He had no choice but to stay here and wait until, hopefully, they come out.  
  
"MASTER!" Syaoran glanced to his left and noticed Nakuru and a real formed Spinel running towards him. They pushed Syaoran out of the way and knocked frantically on the door.  
  
"It's useless. Something pushed them both inside and I can't open the door," Syaoran spoke. Nakuru and Spinel glanced at him and frowned, then looked at each other.  
  
"This is definitely not good," Spinel said.   
  
"What's not good? What's going to happen to them?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Nakuru glared at him. "NOTHING!" she hissed. "It's none of your business."  
  
Syaoran frowned. "Of course it's my business. Sakura and Tomoyo are both in there and I don't know what's going to happen to them!" He pointed inside the house and glared back at Nakuru. It was obvious to him that Nakuru still hasn't forgiven him after what he did to Eriol. "What. Is. Going. On?"  
  
Spinel sighed. "It's a long story."  
  
"Then make it short," Syaoran demanded.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: OOOOOOHHHH this is getting good.... Hm... wonder what happened to Eriol and Tomoyo? Want to know? Well, you'll have to see and find out for yourself! See ya! 


	6. Everyone loves someone...

Note: HI! Man, sorry for the long wait everyone! I've been lazy the past few weeks! Anyway, here it is! ENJOY!  
  
  
  
Chapter 6 - Everyone loves someone else...   
  
  
  
The world was in chaos, there was blood shed and danger lurking every corner. His mind raced back and forth between what seemed like reality and the other of what seemed like the dream world. Ahead of him he saw her running away from him, her long, dark hair flowing behind her. He called her name, but she didn't seem to hear. As he reached out his hand to her, she seemed to be drifting further away.   
  
"She's pretty, ne?" Eriol looked to his side and noticed a little boy, gazing up at him with his innocent eyes. "She's always happy and energetic, even though inside, she's hurting. People don't see..." He looked away from him and glanced at the running girl in front of them. Eriol followed his eyes. "People don't see that she is hurting. She is really hurting, but she hides it. She hides everything in her heart, even though it's dying of sadness and loneliness."  
  
"Okasan! Okasan!" Eriol noticed the girl turn to her sides, calling out her mother. She paused, stopped running and looked down as if in shame. "Okasan..."   
  
"Where am I?" The teen looked back at the boy, but he had disappeared. He looked up into the sky and clenched his fists in irritation. "Why did you bring me here, Jiro? Where is this?"  
  
"Just a little present for Eriol-san! I thought maybe you need some kind of memory jump in your mind!"  
  
"What are you talking about?!"   
  
No answer.  
  
"Tell me, Jiro! Why am I here? Where is this place?!"  
  
"Look closely at the girl in front of you. Recognize her, Eriol-san?"  
  
Eriol looked again at the girl. She had turned to face him, her features now clear in his mind. The long, curly, dark hair seemed familiar and her large, blue eyes seemed to bore through his mind. "Tomoyo-chan..." He murmured. What was going on? Her eyes no longer held the same smile she gave him each time he walked by. It was now replaced with a cold, look that faded inside his mind. This was not the Tomoyo he knew.   
  
"Eriol-kun... Do you not like me? Do you like Mizuki-sensei more than me?" The dark haired boy did not answer and when he didn't, he received a cold glare from Tomoyo. "THIS ISN'T FAIR ERIOL! How come you like her so much? WHY WON'T YOU LIKE ME?!!"  
  
Eriol stared at her, his eyes shaped with a confused stare, taking a step towards her. "Tomoyo-chan... this isn't you. Jiro is turning you into someone else you're not!" He attempted to place a hand on her shoulder, but she just slapped his hand away, her face turning crimson with anger.   
  
"NO! I hate you, Eriol-kun! I hate you! Everyone seems to love someone else more than me! WHY?! Tell me! WHY?!" Tears soaked her face and Eriol, for the first time, could see the pain in Tomoyo's eyes, even though he was not looking at the real Tomoyo...or is he?  
  
"Jiro, stop this! You're torturing her!" He clenched his fists at his sides and looked at the sky in disgrace. "You leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this!"  
  
"Clow, Clow Clow! You'll never learn will you?! She has every right to be part of this dilemma of yours. Besides looking like Tomoyo, do you recognize someone else there?"  
  
"I am not Clow! My name is Hiragizawa Eriol!"  
  
"Oh, is that so? Well, if you are Hiragizawa Eriol, how come you have the memories of Clow Leed himself?"   
  
"WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME?! NAZE?! (Why)" Eriol felt a squeeze from his right arm. He looked down and realized that Tomoyo was gripping his thin arm rather viciously. He tried gently to pry her hand off from him, but he would not prevail.   
  
"Tomoyo-chan, snap out of it!" Eriol grabbed both her shoulders and shook her as hard as he could, but not hard enough to hurt her. She was yelling 'why' every time, repeating that same word that now stung Eriol's ears. "The Tomoyo that I know is not like this. She is much stronger than this! Tomoyo-chan! You are much stronger than this!"   
  
A dozen more tears soaked her porcelain face. She paused, refraining herself from yelling anymore and collapsed in his arms. Eriol gently removed hair from her face and curled it behind her ears. Even when her eyes are closed, Tomoyo looked like an angel. He put his arms around her and gently stroked her hair. She cried in his chest, quietly saying, "Gomen nasai (I'm sorry), Eriol-kun..."   
  
Eriol shook his head. "Iiee, Tomoyo-chan... I should be the one apologizing to you."  
  
Tomoyo stopped crying and looked up, wiping her tears away suddenly with her arm. "Naze? (why)"   
  
He smiled. "Because I put you through this. You have to go through this while I couldn't do anything about it. Demo... I won't run away anymore. I am going to finish this and bring you home, all right?"  
  
Her lips turned into a smile, her sadness fading from her eyes. For the first time in her life, she felt safe. "Arigatou, Eriol-kun..."  
  
  
  
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"A long time ago, there was a little boy named Clow Leed. He was no ordinary boy, for he held the powers of a true magician. He was loved by everything and everyone around him, but even though he had so many people that loved him, he was also hated by many. He knew, from the very beginning that Clow Leed would not be all that popular. He had many enemies and many friends and Clow knew he had to go through it all, but he wasn't about to give up without a fight. Those who hated him, gave him dirty looks and talked anger behind his back. So he..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah I already know that part!"  
  
Nakuru's eyes flared in anger. "WHY DID YOU INTERRUPT ME?! DON'T YOU DARE INTERRUPT ME!"  
  
Suppi's face fell flat in embarrassment. "Calm down, Nakuru. He is the descendant of Clow Leed, after all, so we'll just skip to the part to who Jiro is." Syaoran and Nakuru were glaring at each other and Spinel could feel the tension between them. "Ano... Eh....Syaoran?"  
  
"Nani?" Syaoran turned his attention towards Spinel. "Who is Jiro, Spinel?"  
  
Spinel took a deep breath. He inhaled and then exhaled a couple of times, before finally answering. "We... don't know."  
  
Syaoran made a comical fall on the floor. "Well that helps a whole lot now, Spinel, arigatou!"  
  
Spinel groaned at Syaoran's sarcastic tone. "All I know is that he hates the old Clow Leed and actually believes that Eriol IS Clow Leed! Ever since Kaho disappeared, Eriol has been tortured by Jiro's voice in his head. Jiro seems to know where Kaho had gone off to and Eriol, despite the pain he has to go through, would do anything to get her back. That's why we're after him."  
  
"And what does Sakura have to do with this?" Syaoran asked. "This is all because Mizuki-sensei disappeared that Eriol is going hunting for this baka and this is all because of Eriol that Sakura might be hurt right now! And this is also his fault for Tomoyo's sadness." He felt a hard slap at the back of his head. His head seemed like it snapped, but it just missed. He placed a hand on his swollen head and jerked his head around to glare at Nakuru.  
  
"BAKA!" Nakuru screamed. "Eriol is not the reason Tomoyo is hurting! You are!" She pointed at him and squinted her eyes dramatically to make a point. Syaoran stared at her, puzzled.  
  
Spinel sighed. "Enough of this. We have to try and get inside the house somehow." He changed into his large form, which was a large black panther with large wings and pointy ears. He rammed through the door, but the force was too strong for him. Syaoran did the same and even used his magic to bust through the door, but still not use. Nakuru used her magic as well, but the door would not move an inch. After a couple of failed attempts, the trio collapsed on the floor with tired bodies.   
  
"We. Can't. Open. It. At. All." Nakuru gasped, clutching at her chest. "What do we do now?" She glanced at Spinel.   
  
Spinel shrugged. "There's nothing we can do. All we have to do now is hope that Eriol and Tomoyo find Sakura and get out alive."  
  
Syaoran clenched his teeth. "Sakura..."  
  
  
  
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"NO! This can't be happening! My magic is much stronger than yours, Clow! I have practiced many years just to defeat you." The voice hissed through the thick air and Eriol could hear him mumble to himself before actually speaking to them. He held Tomoyo tightly in his arms and looked around, hoping to find some kind of escape, but there was none.  
  
"Who are you, Jiro? What do you have against me?"  
  
"As if you don't know already, Clow! You should know already!" For the first time, a figure appeared in front of Eriol. He expected him to be taller than himself, with menacing eyes and a distinguished moustache, wearing dark magician like clothes, however, as the figure moved closer, he was much shorter and younger than him. Jiro looked like he was twelve years old. From the boy's eyes, he saw the resemblance of someone he knew a long time ago. His tried to search into his memory, but it wasn't there. He knew this boy was someone he knew a long time ago that he had just forgotten. "What, expected me to be someone older?" the boy spoke. He was dressed in regular school clothes and had cropped, dark hair, at least an inch taller than his hair.   
  
"Jiro?" was all Eriol could say, before he was interrupted by Tomoyo as she stirred from her peaceful sleep. She had fallen asleep in her arms after crying so much. She blushed when she realized that Eriol HAD been holding her, just to make her feel safe.   
  
"Nani?" She looked around groggily and looked up at Eriol. "Eriol-kun?" Tomoyo glanced behind her and noticed a boy dressed in the school clothes she wore in her elementary school days.   
  
Eriol looked down on her and frowned. "Tomoyo-chan..." he whispered.  
  
Tomoyo blushed and turned around to face him. "Hai?"  
  
"Gomen, Tomoyo-chan... I didn't mean to deceive you like this. I was hoping to stay at Sakura's house in Japan, but she wasn't there so I decided to come to stay at your house instead and look for Jiro myself." Eriol looked down in shame. "Now that I found him, I want you to go behind me so I can protect you. This will be my payment for being so kind to me."  
  
"Nani, Eriol-kun? What are you trying to say?"  
  
"I'm saying that I want to be your friend. I don't want to be the cause of everything wrong that goes on in your life. The reason why I stayed in Japan was because I was looking for Jiro so he can give me back Kaho..."  
  
Tomoyo's eyes widened. No... He didn't come to her to be her friend. He wanted to look for Kaho. "Mizuki-sensei?" She murmured.   
  
"Hai," Eriol replied, nodding.  
  
She knew it. 'Everyone loves someone else, but not me...' a voice spoke in her head. "Hoe??? I- don't understand. Why, Eriol-kun?" She looked up, now soaked in tears. "Why did you hurt me?"  
  
Eriol glanced behind him at Tomoyo. Her eyes went back to the darkness of Tomoyo. Her eyes were now back to those same eyes he detested of her. He jerked his head towards Jiro and glared at him. "I said to leave her alone, Jiro! Stop using her like this!"  
  
"Everyone loves someone else, but not me," Jiro whispered. "Does that sound familiar to you, Clow?!" He clenched his fists and glowered at him. "It should, because no one loves me?!" His eyes changed from blue into an angry crimson and he was now surrounded with a powerful aura. Eriol could not believe it. The aura was familiar to him. The aura was...Clow Leed's...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Eh? Confusing, ne? Heh heh, just find out what's REALLY going on! WHO IS JIRO?! 


	7. Truth Uncovered

Note: Hi all! Thanx for the few who reviewed, I appreciate it! Anyway, here is another uh...exciting and rather confusing chapter for everyone! Don't worry, everything will be revealed soon and oh yes, the truth about Jiro is FINALLY revealed in this chapter!  
  
  
  
Chapter 7 - Truth Uncovered   
  
  
  
  
For a brief moment, there was silence, but each knew that the screams were coming from the inside of their heads. It was getting chilly inside the room and Eriol found himself clutching his arms tightly around Tomoyo, who had collapsed in his arms so suddenly after Jiro spoke those few words. He couldn't understand what was going on. Jiro kept on insisting that he should know the young magician, but he didn't. He had no idea who this boy was, much less remember anything about him.   
  
"How could you not remember?!" Jiro spoke out loud so suddenly that Eriol almost jumped on his feet. Young eyes stared into his own, now red in vengeance and hate. "You took away the only family I had ever known! BAKA!" He lifted up a hand, forcing to lift Tomoyo's lifeless body as well. Eriol panicked, picking up his staff into his hands and repelling Jiro's magic force with a shield to keep Tomoyo on the ground. Jiro gritted his teeth in annoyance. Eriol's magic force was much stronger than his own.  
  
Eriol felt Clow Leed's presence earlier, however, not in the boy's magic force, but inside the boy's soul. He felt the boy's magic force was from a very powerful dark power. This boy has been toying with black magic and that the magic itself was eating away Jiro's soul. "This is black magic you are using! Where did you get it?"  
  
Jiro frowned. "It doesn't matter! Once I kill you, you won't have to worry about it anymore! You took away my parents and Kaho from me."  
  
The young man winced. Kaho? "What are you talking about? You took away Kaho from me!" He lifted up his staff over his head and frowned at the boy. "You have no right to claim that Kaho was yours in the first place." He heard a moan beside him. Eriol quickly glanced to his right to find Tomoyo stirring from her consciousness. Cautiously, Eriol created a magic field around the both of them and kneeled down beside her. "Tomoyo-san... Are you all right?"  
  
Tomoyo blinked, opening her eyes to find Eriol looking down on her with a worried look. "Eriol-san? Nani?" She looked around, trying to remember exactly where she was.   
  
Eriol sighed quietly, glad that Tomoyo was fine. He had to get her away from here quickly before she gets in any more danger. He felt Sakura's aura nearby. He had to get her and Tomoyo out of here. "Tomoyo-san, I want you to hang on to me, all right?" He didn't give Tomoyo time to answer as he took the girl's right arm and wrapped it around his neck as he leaned closer to her. He took her other arm and wrapped it in the same place and smiled down on her reassuringly. "I want you to hang on tight," he whispered in her ear.  
  
Tomoyo blushed and nodded. "Hai," she whispered back, looking into his eyes.   
  
Jiro's eyes glowed. "NO!" He attacked with what seemed like wind, but Eriol's strong magic repelled that and absorbed some into his shield. Eriol stood up, putting an arm around Tomoyo's waist and looked at Jiro angrily. Jiro was utterly confused. Eriol would not fight back. The young reincarnation of Clow Leed was only concerned about the girl's safety. With one quick move, Eriol blast him an ice magic, enabling Jiro to move his arms in order to cast magic. Jiro hissed, screaming and cursing Eriol's name. Eriol quickly used Wing over Jiro and Transport to bring them to Sakura's room.  
  
  
  
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"Hoy, Spinel-sun! Will you be able to bring me up that window?" Spinel walked over to him and followed Syaoran's finger to a window just above their heads. He stared at him with a confused expression.  
  
"But I thought you said we could not get inside, because of the magic?" the large beast asked, licking at his paws. He rubbed his already wet paw at the side of his face, but was interrupted by Syaoran's sword in his throat to keep him from finishing his bath.   
  
"The best we can do right now to get Sakura is to at least try!" Syaoran hissed, placing the sharper side of his sword closer, yet gentler towards the blue beast.   
  
"There's no need for that!" Nakuru yelped, glaring at Syaoran. She slapped Syaoran's sword away from Spinel's neck and changed into her real form, her butterfly wings expanding as far as fifty meters. She glanced back at Syaoran and folded her arms across her chest. "Since our master is there as well, we intend to go in there with you."  
  
Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Fine." He turned his head back towards Spinel. "Are you still giving me a lift up there?"  
  
Spinel-sun sighed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," he replied.   
  
SMASH!  
  
Small bits of crystal glass shattered above them. The three looked up and noticed three bodies, one hairy, jumping out the window with glass shards forming around them as they flew. At least two of them were carrying someone in their arms and Syaoran could easily recognize all the long white hair, the large wings and the serious expression of Yue, with Sakura still unconscious in his arms. Not far behind him flew Keroberos, catching up to the three that were flying and to Syaoran's outmost shock, just ahead of the two, was Eriol, with his staff held high and Tomoyo held in one arm, her arms around his neck. They flew over their heads, farther into the trees and out of sight, but Syaoran could still sense them. They were heading somewhere and his guess was somewhere where no magic could reach them.  
  
"Master!" Spinel-sun called.   
  
"They're heading for the nearest Temple," Syaoran spoke. Tightly with his sword in his hands, he began to run to where the three had gone off. Ruby Moon and Spinel-sun followed as well, not realizing that the man who had cause all this trouble was watching them from the window just below Sakura's bedroom.   
  
  
  
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"I'm sorry to have caused you all this trouble, Tomoyo," he said, looking down on her face. She was an angel when she slept. He wasn't sure if she heard him, but he didn't want to stay long enough to find out. He had to get back to where Jiro was and finish this fight once and for all. Tomoyo and Sakura would both be safe here. He planted a soft kiss on Tomoyo's forehead, as a form of apology.   
  
"You did cause all this trouble," came a deep voice from behind him. Eriol turned his head to find Syaoran walking towards him with a towel and a bowl full of water in his hands. "You can go now."  
  
Eriol frowned and nodded. He knew he had to. He couldn't keep Tomoyo with him anymore and he could no longer be by her side. Without a second thought, he leaned over to her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you with your sadness, Tomoyo. Remember to be true to yourself and not let yourself down so much. You may think that you are not worth anything to anyone, but you are worth everything to me and..." He paused and glanced at Sakura. "You are also worth everything to Sakura and your mother." He leaned back and smiled, then stood up. "Please take care of her," he spoke, not looking at Syaoran. "I warn you Syaoran, if you hurt her, I'll come back for you."  
  
Syaoran blinked, gripping his hand tightly around the towel. "Are you threatening me, Hiragizawa?!"  
  
The taller boy turned and placed a serious face. "So what if I am? Is that so bad to make sure that Tomoyo doesn't get hurt by you?"  
  
The younger boy faltered, releasing his grip on the towel and frowned. "Why would you think that I would hurt her?" He glanced at the angelic face of Tomoyo and then at Sakura. "I would never hurt any of them. I love Sakura and I love Tomoyo as a sister."  
  
Eriol nodded. "I see. Have you told Tomoyo that?"  
  
Syaoran stared at him, confused, but said nothing.   
  
The blue haired boy, though still curious if Syaoran knew about Tomoyo's love for him, walked pass his 'cute' descendant and walked out of the building to find Keroberos, Yue, Nakuru and Spinel all waiting in the temple courtyard. Yue was leaning his back against a tree still in his true form, while Keroberos lay next to him. Nakuru sat on the other side of Yue in her false form, as Spinel, with his false form as well, sat on Nakuru's shoulder. They were quiet as Eriol noticed, with no words to speak to each other.   
  
Nakuru was the first one to notice Eriol coming and quickly sprung up on her feet, forcing Spinel to topple off of her shoulder. Eriol could hear Spinel call Nakuru 'Baka' with three of four exclamation marks.   
  
"Eriol-sama! How is Tomoyo-chan and Sakura-chan?" Nakuru asked, stopping in front of him. Eriol paused from walking and looked over her shoulder to find Yue and Keroberos walking up to them. Spinel was still struggling to stand on his own four feet from the fall. Ten years ago these four would never have gotten along if Sakura hadn't pass the tests he gave her. There was no way either for him to survive, if he didn't have anyone to pass Clow Leed's cards to.  
  
"They will be fine," Eriol replied. As soon as he said that, he heard loud heavy sighs of relief from all four of them. He was surprised to find Spinel already up on Nakuru's shoulder. "Though, Sakura-chan's cards are fading away. Without her magic, the cards are unable to make contact with her."  
  
"What does that mean, master?" Spinel asked.  
  
"It means Jiro has taken away her magic for reasons that I do not know about. He somehow hers and combine it with mine. Since I have given half of Clow Leed's magic to Sakura, he vows to get it and take my life so he can have mine." He paused, staring ahead of them in a deep thought. "He is connected to Clow Leed somehow."  
  
"Connected?" came Yue's curious voice. "How?"  
  
Eriol glanced at his creation and shook his head. "I don't know. But it doesn't matter; I need to find the answers from him fast and soon. Sakura's life is in danger and Kaho..."  
  
"You're not worried about Sakura. You're worried about Kaho. He knows where Kaho is, is that right, Hiragizawa?" All five turned to face a flustered Syaoran, unsheathing his sword from his side. With a quick pace, he placed his cold blade upon Eriol's neck and glared at him. "You never cared to visit Tomoyo in Japan nor will you ever care to protect Sakura! All you cared about was getting Mizuki-sensei back!"  
  
Eriol looked at him. "What makes you think that?"  
  
Syaoran gritted his teeth. "Isn't that what I just you heard you say earlier, Eriol? You mentioned Mizuki-sensei's name! Why don't you finish that sentence, Hiragizawa!"  
  
The taller boy looked away. "You're worried about her, that's good," was all he said, before turning around from him. "You are something, Syaoran. You worry so much about Sakura. When will you stop to think that you should worry about Tomoyo too?"  
  
Syaoran dropped his arms down and stared after him. He watched as Eriol walked down the steps of the temple, followed closely by the false forms of Nakuru and Spinel-sun. He couldn't understand what Eriol was talking about and for a few seconds; he didn't care at the moment, until after he came back inside the temple to hear a faint cry from another room. He glanced at Tomoyo's room and went inside, finding her crying in her sleep. He could only hear a few words she spoke and most of them had everything to do with her mother. He was about to leave the room, when he heard his name being called by her.  
  
"Syaoran-kun... Why won't you love me? I have always loved you." Tears flowed down her pretty face as she turned her head from side to side, her closed eyes furrowing in sadness. Syaoran paused by the door, turning around slowly to look at her. She whimpered, alarming Syaoran. He has never seen the smiling face of Tomoyo fall into sadness before. "Syaoran-kun... Syaoran-kun..."  
  
Syaoran kneeled down beside her, feeling awkward for watching her like this, but he was concerned this time. She whimpered again. Syaoran couldn't take it anymore. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up in a sitting position. "Shhh," he whispered in her ear. "It's okay now, Tomoyo. I'm here, I'm right here."  
  
Tomoyo was dreaming and that is all it was. She could see herself being held in Syaoran's arms and being comforted by him. "Syaoran-kun? Will you stay here with me? Please?"   
  
Syaoran pulled back to look at her. Her eyes were still half asleep and he could tell that she thought she was still dreaming. "Tomoyo, it's okay, I'll be right beside you. I'll stay here for a while, okay?"  
  
Tomoyo nodded and closed her eyes again. Syaoran pushed her gently back down on the makeshift bed and sat by her, wiping her face away with her tears. She went back to sleep once more as Syaoran watched her. He stood up and frowned. Tomoyo... tears... It was a rare thing for him to have witnessed, but he saw it with his own eyes and it was too late to back down now.   
  
"AHHH!" He heard a scream from Sakura's room. Syaroan quickly turned and left the room, without a moment's hesitation towards the young, weeping girl. His main concern now was Sakura's health and her disappearing magic. She was screaming out and he needed to be there for her.  
  
  
  
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"I see you're back now. Still want to see Kaho?" Came Jiro's deep voice from around the room. Eriol looked around, finding a shadow not far ahead of him at the top of the stairs.   
  
"Shut up, Jiro! It will take you forever to let me figure out who you really are and why you're here, but I suggest you tell me what's going on before I use all my magic on you until my dying breath!"   
  
"Ooh, a threat! That's something I have never heard from you for a long time, Clow. Then again, you were always so tolerant of others, pretending to smile like you were some kind of Saint!" Jiro floated down the steps and came face to face with Eriol in his child form. "I've always known you had this kind of temper, but never in a million years have you ever used it on a family member!"  
  
Eriol gasped. Family member?  
  
"That's right, Eriol! I happen to be Clow Leed's brother, YOUR brother! Well, at that time, I could never call you my brother, because we were never blood related. If you had never come, then this would have never happened! It's your fault for taking away Otousan and Okasan from me!" He glared into his eyes. "YOU! You never deserved it! I was their first son! But I became their second son when you came along!"  
  
Eriol blinked. He remembered now. He remembered it all clearly....  
  
  
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He was just a little boy four hundred years ago, a little boy trying to find a home. This boy was an orphan, watching from outside of windows at the happy family eating their dinners together. He was about to give up his search for a new home, when a couple, holding a little boy in their arms found him almost dead. They took care of him and loved him like their own son and called him Eriol. No one knew, except for himself or herself, that this boy would grow up to be a powerful magician, destined to become the next Clow Leed, next to his adopted father. Eriol became popular with the women, especially to a young girl named Kaho. When he heard of this, their youngest son, Jiro was enraged. HE was their blood son! HE deserved to be praised as the next powerful magician. HE deserved to have Kaho, not him. However, no matter how hard he tried, Eriol would learn faster than him with magic, while Jiro fell two places behind him and Eriol was the one who impressed Kaho. His jealousy and hatred brought him farther behind from his 'older brother.' When his father found out about Jiro's failed attempts and his reasons behind it, Clow gave part of his own magic to Eriol. He knew that Eriol had more potential, for Eriol had the type of heart that his magic deserved. He was disappointed, however, that his own blood son did not have the same heart as their adopted son.  
  
"This is unfair, father!" Jiro hissed, glaring at the man he has known all his life.  
  
"What is unfair is that you have become someone else I did not expect you to be. Your heart is no longer in the right place that I wish you to be. My magic cannot hold that type of heart when you are full of jealousy and rage."  
  
"It's because you treated me as a stranger! You rely on Eriol as much as myself!"   
  
"Well, if you wish so much to take the title as Clow Leed, then you shall make appointments to have a Competition to see who has the highest potential in magic." Clow looked at both his sons and received a nod from them. "Good. Then tomorrow, it will begin." He glanced at Jiro. "I expect you to do well on this, Jiro. After all, you are my blood son and blood sons can have the right, if you do not fail that is."  
  
Jiro knew he did not have enough magic abilities to win against Eriol in the competition. Determined to set his father straight and to beat Eriol, he secretly met with a woman, who claimed to know everything on how to beat a powerful magician such as Eriol. She gave him much more power from her own concoctions and as soon as Jiro received it, he was concealed within a power of darkness. The woman was really a witch, using black magic for her own personal gain, who despised Clow Leed very much. Using Jiro as her puppet and Jiro using her for her magic, Eriol was finally defeated, but not before Clow Leed realizing that Jiro was using forbidden magic unused by many of his descendents, until now. The dark powers were too much inside Jiro that he was unable to take it away from his own son's fallen body. He had no choice but to banish the witch, along with his son into another world, where no one can ever see them again. After all this time, Clow Leed was still willing to give the magic to Jiro, if only he had not used dark magic. So, he gave the title of Clow Leed to Eriol and gave him access to all his creations before vanishing from the Earth forever.  
  
  
  
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"I don't know how you managed to escape, Witch!" Eriol spoke, speaking now that he had remembered everything. "But you'll never take anything away from me. You took advantage of Jiro and... and..." He paused. A familiar figure began to walk down the stairs with an eerie glow. Long hair flowed like waves behind the figure and he could tell she was long legged and skinny, yet she was VERY familiar. "No... it couldn't be."  
  
"Yes, it is!" Jiro chuckled and turned to reveal a shocking revelation. Kaho stood behind him... alive! Eriol wanted to run to her and comfort her from her sadness, but all he could see was a cold, calculating look. Her eyes were not the same as he remember her to have, but it became more icy blue, than the soft tones he was used to seeing.   
  
"How...? Kaho?" Eriol called, too shocked to move.  
  
"Who is that, love?" Kaho spoke, placing a hand on Jiro's shoulder.   
  
"Kaho, it's me!"   
  
"She doesn't know you, Clow! She doesn't remember who you are! Too bad for you, because before I had to erase all her memories, she was calling out your name." Jiro snickered, placing a hand over Kaho's delicate fingers. He picked her hand up and kissed the back of it gently. "I told you she was mine now. She deserved to be mine. If you hadn't come, then she would have fallen for me! Time to give back what rightfully belongs to mine! Hand it over now, Eriol and no one gets hurt! Not even that girl you have grown so fond of."  
  
"I'll never hand anything to you! You are using dangerous magic, Jiro! This woman has completely taken over your soul! You're not like this! You were never like this! Have you forgotten everything about us when we were just little children? Who take care of you when you were sick and when otousan and okasan were not there to watch over you? Who put a band-aid over your wound when you fell from the tree? That was all me, Jiro! Remember that?"  
  
Jiro's eyes became soft, but the witch came back to hiss some profanities towards him and the young boy's eyes became bloody red. "SHUT UP!" She losing a battle from the young Clow Leed and Eriol could tell. Jiro stepped back, grabbed Kaho's hand and vanished into thin air.  
  
Eriol ran to where they stood and looked around. He couldn't feel them anymore. They simply vanished without leaving a trace.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Whew! This was something! It took me hours to finally finish this one! Well I hope you all enjoyed this! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE r/r! Arigatou! 


	8. No More Pretending

Note: Hey! Hey! Where are all my E x T fans? Where did they all go? I know, I know it's not turning out into an E x T fans, but you all have to understand that love can't be forgotten. Yes, I don't like Eriol and Kaho pairing, because it's just not right either, but I'm trying to follow up with the anime and the manga so I can't just ignore that kind of reality. Anyway, in this chapter, I promise you all there is going to have an Eriol and Tomoyo interaction here! ENJOY!  
  
  
  
Chapter 8 - No More Pretending  
  
  
  
It has been weeks already. Weeks that passed after that whole ordeal happened in China. Despite Tomoyo's protests to stay with Sakura after she lost half of her cards to Jiro, Fujitaka insisted that she went home to Japan, since she was graduating soon. He also felt she needed to get back or Daidoujii Sonomi will have his head. Eriol decided to bring Tomoyo to the airport, afraid that Jiro was nearby to take advantage of her, along with Nakuru and Spinel. When Tomoyo was safely in the airport, they bade her farewell and watched her fly home. Tomoyo closed her eyes and remembered that moment. After she came home, she was relieved to find her mother was not home yet. She was still back in America selling toys and if she had been back, Tomoyo would have explained everything to her.   
  
"Ohayou, Tomoyo-chan!!!!" Tomoyo almost jumped, feeling an enormous weight upon her shoulders as she looked up to find Kana smiling at her. Misaki was not far behind her as she took her seat beside Tomoyo, giving her a curious look. Yukio gave her his best smile before sitting down on his usual seat, right behind Tomoyo. Upon noticing Tomoyo's agitated look, Kana removed her hand from her friend's shoulder and frowned. "Are you all right, Tomoyo-chan?"  
  
Everything that has happened still gave her the chills. None of her friends knew that she had gone to China, though they were suspicious when she suddenly returned two days after without a word. Kana and Misaki both had asked her before, but she never answered and so they never questioned her anymore after that. They knew that whatever happened to her, she wanted to put it all behind her now. Though, sometimes, Tomoyo couldn't help but wonder what happened to Jiro. He hasn't appeared for weeks and she was beginning to feel edgy, thinking that he might have followed her to Japan so she could be his bait for Eriol. How can that be when Eriol was still in China? Her guess was he was probably still back in China to look for his brother and his long lost girlfriend. It was quite shocking when she heard from Eriol himself that Jiro was his adopted brother, when they were both completely different. Sometimes she couldn't help but miss Eriol. During those days he stayed, he was quite helpful towards her. He cooked for her, brought lunch to her when she had forgotten and sometimes she caught him carrying her back to bed when she fell asleep on the couch. It was a wonderful feeling, but she wished that it were Syaoran who was carrying her like a gentleman.   
  
A hand interrupted her from her thoughts. It waved in front of her, startling her quite a bit. Tomoyo looked up and noticed Misaki was staring at her worriedly. "Tomoyo-chan? Daijobu deska? (Are you all right?)."  
  
Tomoyo smiled. Of course she wasn't all right! Everyone has done so much for her, yet all she has ever done was smile and be kind and be generous. "Hai! (Of course!). Why would you think that I'm not all right?"  
  
Kana and Misaki looked at each other. "Well, it seems just now, that you were out of this world. I'm worried about you," Kana spoke, sitting down on a seat across from Tomoyo. Misaki sat down in front of the girl, her usual spot and stared at her.  
  
Tomoyo smiled again. She didn't need to be weak. She doesn't have to. Everyone around was strong at heart, while inside, she was crumbling to pieces. She has tried her hardest to smile for everyone, because if she cried in front of them, they will get worried and protective over her. She hated being weak. "I'm fine, Kana-chan, Misaki-chan! Really!" She glanced behind her where Yukio sat. She could tell he was also starting to get worried. "Yuki-kun, I'm fine!"   
  
Yukio blushed and looked down at something on his desk for no apparent reason. He loved her smile and she smiled at him! Not the type of fake smile, but a real smile!   
  
"Eh, ki ni shinai! (Never mind)," Misaki said, waving her hand. "Let's talk about something else now, ne?"   
  
Kana and Tomoyo nodded in unison.  
  
"Ah, do you have a dress ready, Tomoyo?" Misaki questioned, going back to her seat two rows in front of Kana. The rest of the students had already started to step inside as Tomoyo studied the people going in. Meiling and Yoshi entered, hand in hand. The Chinese girl waved when she noticed Tomoyo and smiled, sitting down beside her boyfriend on the far corner of the room.   
  
"I have a nice dress! It's so kirei!!! (Beautiful!)" Kana replied, her eyes twinkling in delight. Misaki rolled her eyes.  
  
"Not you, baka! I was talking to Tomoyo! I already know what your dress looks like!" Misaki looked at Tomoyo, who was still staring at somewhere. "Hello! Earth to Tomoyo!"  
  
Tomoyo blinked. "Eh...? Hai? Nani?"  
  
Misaki sighed. "The dress, Tomoyo!" She suddenly smiled. "Are you going to tell us or are we waiting until you wear it at the Grad Dance next week?" She glanced towards Yukio, winking at him. "I'm sure, Yukio wouldn't mind waiting, so he can ask you to dance then!"  
  
Yukio blushed, glaring at his cousin. "Baka, kutabare! (drop dead, stupid!)" he mouthed, surprising his cousin. He grinned and went back to staring at his desk.  
  
Tomoyo stared at Misaki as if she didn't know what she was talking about. "Nani?" She glanced at Kana, then back at Misaki. "What dance?"  
  
Kana and Misaki looked at each other, and then stared back at Tomoyo.   
  
Misaki slammed a hand down on Tomoyo's table, startling her. She grinned, thinking she was joking. "Hah, hah, Tomoyo. That's so funny. Seriously, do you have your dress?"  
  
Tomoyo's eyes glowed, her memory coming back. "NANI?! Are you telling me that we have a week left until the actual Grad Dance?! Iiee!!!!!!"  
  
"You're joking right? Tell me, you're joking!" Kana spoke, staring at her friend.  
  
Tomoyo said nothing.  
  
"NANI?!" Misaki yelled, surprising the whole class. The tall girl roughly placed her hands on Tomoyo's shoulders and shook her. "What are you talking about?! You mean to tell us that you completely forgot that our Grad Dance is next week?!" She stopped her shaking and looked at Tomoyo. Sweat poured from Tomoyo's face, telling her that it was all true. Tomoyo had completely forgotten. Misaki frowned. Tomoyo could tell by the way her friend was looking at her that Misaki began to feel concerned.  
  
She grinned. "Eh, demo... doesn't worry too much! I will get started on the dress soon and I'll be done by then!" Tomoyo glanced at her friends and smiled, feeling awkward with those words spoken. She hasn't even bought her fabric yet.  
  
Kana stared at her and, as if reading her thoughts, leaned over to look closely into her eyes. "You haven't bought the fabric yet, have you?"  
  
Tomoyo shook her head.  
  
All at once, Kana and Misaki fell off their seats in a comical way. Yukio looked down at his cousin and sighed. "Oy! Baka! You are too dramatic over this whole thing! If Tomoyo will be finished by then, she will. Besides, she can always buy a dress!" He kicked Misaki's leg lightly and rolled his eyes.   
  
Tomoyo thanked Yukio in her head for being considerate. She watched as Kana and Misaki lifted themselves up from the ground and sitting back down on the seats. Kana sighed and stared at Tomoyo.  
  
"Demo... Tomoyo-chan, you are never forgetful! You always made your own dresses and that's what makes you unique!" Kana spoke, slouching slightly.  
  
Misaki nodded. "Hai! Tomoyo-chan is always on time and remembers every little thing! Something must have happened to her. Ne... Tomoyo-chan?" She stared at her friend, who just shrugged and said nothing. She sighed. "Oh well, I guess Yukio is right. Tomoyo-chan can do anything!"  
  
"Hai! Tomoyo-chan is the best!" Kana yelped, putting two thumbs up in the air.  
  
Tomoyo smiled. There were many things they didn't know about her. In truth, she was not the best. She was not what they think she is to them. Tomoyo was not the perfect person they think her to be. Why would they think she was perfect? She was far behind being perfect OR unique!   
  
  
  
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Class ended and the rest of the day was just getting over the other classes. The day went on as usual and Tomoyo found herself feeling lonely and depressed. The feeling was odd, even for her. She has never felt so sad and overwhelmed by everything. Her friends couldn't walk home with her, unlike the usual routine they had after school. Kana had to pick up her little sister from school, because her mother was stuck in babysitting more daycare kids. As a result, Satoshi Kana, had to take a different route to the elementary school. Misaki and Yukio had to get home early because one of their close cousins had a car accident. They were called down to the office during third period and were picked up by Yukio's father a few minutes later. Tomoyo had to get home on her own, and despite walking alone, she needed it. Alone was the best time for her to think things through without Misaki and Kana's nagging or Yukio's constant stares boring through her. She needed the time alone right now.   
  
Tomoyo walked down the streets of Willow Hill Road, a quiet neighborhood that stretched as far as the large bridge that led to the Tenth Highway. Sakura blossoms fell from the trees, like beautiful pink snow dancing in the air. Tomoyo passed Cherry Park, where two or three children played in the sandbox and one girl swinging in the swings alone. She stopped to look at the girl on the swings. She could see her sadness and her loneliness, even though she was a few feet away from her. She frowned, now watching herself in the same position. How long must she sit on the swings by herself? As if answering her question, one boy stood up from the sandbox and walked over to the girl on the swings. He sat down on an empty swing beside her and began to talk to her. The girl smiled sweetly and laughed at whatever it was he had said. Tomoyo watched and watched, until she could no longer look anymore. When she was finished, she turned and walked out of the park's sight. She turned a corner and continued on down the same road where the Sakura blossoms now filled the streets with the petals. Tomoyo shivered as unsuspecting cold wind blew pass her bare neck. She wrapped her jacket tightly around her and watched the sun go down beyond. Tomoyo noticed a store to her right. Her favourite store, named after its famous fabric, the Silk Shop, gleamed towards her. She had almost forgotten to buy fabric for her dress. Tomoyo sighed, deciding on entering the shop with little hesitation.   
  
Inside, she was greeted by a nice middle aged man, a man whom her mother had the privilege of working with before he got married and had a son about Tomoyo's age. Junetam Ishida smiled as Tomoyo entered the store, waving his hand at Daidouji-san's only daughter.  
  
"Konnichiwa, Tomoyo-san!" Junetam spoke with a soft voice.   
  
"Konnichiwa, Ishida-san!" Tomoyo replied back, with a wave and a grin. She heard the back door open. A handsome young man by the name of Hiromi, entered the shop, carrying two large boxes in his arms. When he noticed Tomoyo, he quickly set the boxes down on the counter and greeted her with a smile, much like his Otousan's (father).  
  
"Ah, Tomoyo-san!" Hiromi spoke, grinning.   
  
Tomoyo nodded and glanced at the choices of beautiful silk through the clear, glass counter. She spotted a beautiful purple shimmering silk and a pearly white. Tomoyo pointed to those two laying side-by-side and glanced up at Hiromi, who had already taken over his father. Junetam was spotted on the other side of the shop, putting away some items inside a cupboard. "Ano...Hiromi-san? Can I have these two silks? The pearly white and the shimmering purple?"  
  
Hiromi nodded. "Hai! They are a wonderful choice, Tomoyo-san!" He opened the door to the glass counter and took out the two chosen silks, and then set it down in front of her on the table. "Are you adding more things to the dress you've made?"  
  
Tomoyo gulped silently. She always forgets that Hiromi was the same age as her. Sometimes he acted mature, that she can never remember how old he was. AND, he goes to the same school as her. "Eto... I... Haven't made a dress yet." She smiled, trying to cover the disappointment in her face.  
  
She expected him to frown and feel awkward, however, he just grinned and nodded. "I see." He put the two silks inside a beautiful paper bag, pressed the correct keys at the cash register and glanced back at Tomoyo. "That will be twenty eighty," he spoke, still grinning.  
  
Tomoyo nodded and fished through her bag for the money, then handed the right amount to Hiromi. She bade him farewell, took the bag of silk from him and left the store. The sun, she noticed was still ready to fall behind the high mountains of Mount Fuji. She had no idea that staring at the park took her the longest time. Tomoyo glanced at her watch. It was almost six and she had to get home to make dinner for her mother who had called this morning that she was coming home before seven. She pressed her feet to go faster, almost to the point of running, but she knew she didn't need to. She was almost there. Tomoyo turned the corner, gasping in surprise when she bumped into someone. Her bag fell from her hands and her beautiful silks, thanks to Hiromi's handmaid lace that tied around the bag, stayed inside so it wouldn't fly out from the gusty wind. However, her books weren't all that lucky. They all fell at once on the ground, her papers scattered on the floor. She almost fell on her back, but a firm hand had held tightly unto her arm and kept her steady.   
  
"Ah! Gomen! Gomen nasai!" Without looking at the stranger, she kneeled down to pick up her bag and closed her eyes, sighing in relief that the kind stranger had kept her from falling. "Arigatou Gozaimasu!"   
  
"Iiee, Tomoyo-chan! No need to apologize, it was my fault in the first place," came a deep, soft spoken and familiar voice. It has been a while since she heard his voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going."  
  
She looked up and stared into the eyes of Eriol Hiragizawa, smiling back at her. "Ano... Eriol-kun? I thought you went back to England?" Tomoyo smiled at him and watched the tall boy pick up all the papers in a speedy pace. When he had gathered all of them, he put them all in one pile and gently stuffed them inside one binder, then collected the second binder in his hands. When he was finished, he stood up and handed them to Tomoyo, who was still surprised by his sudden appearance.  
  
Eriol shook his head with his response to her question. "Iiee... After I left China, I decided to come back here to visit the rest of my old classmates, but I told Nakuru and Spinel to go back to England. I told them I had some business to take care of."  
  
Tomoyo nodded, knowing what he was talking about. "Jiro, ne?" she asked, looking at him. They began to walk down together the streets of Pine Crest, then turned one block from their elementary school.   
  
Eriol nodded. "That and some other things." He glanced at Tomoyo and smiled. It seems she had no idea about them.   
  
When they made it to the Daidouji driveway, Tomoyo realized then that Eriol had walked her all the way there. She looked at the tall boy and smiled. "You walked me all the way here and I thank you for that."   
  
The tall teen grinned. "It was my pleasure walking you home. It's very dangerous walking by your self. I thought you usually walk with your friends from school?"  
  
Tomoyo nodded. "They do, but they had more important stuff to do."  
  
Eriol noticed the disappointment in Tomoyo's eyes. Tomoyo, why do you let yourself suffer? He thought. All was silent for a moment, until....   
  
GROAN! Tomoyo glanced at Eriol and arched an eyebrow at him. The taller boy just shrugged and grinned. "I haven't really eaten yet since this afternoon," he replied.  
  
Tomoyo giggled. "Well, I would gladly invite you over for dinner," she suggested. "Demo... I haven't really cooked anything yet and okasan's coming home soon, so..."  
  
"I'll help you cook," Eriol said.   
  
"Really?" Tomoyo asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.  
  
"You are so kawaii when you look at me like that," Eriol commented softly, making Tomoyo blush. "Now..." He glanced at the closed gate in front of them. "Are we going to cook out here or...?" Eriol paused and looked at the girl.  
  
Tomoyo gasped, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Oh right!" she responded, laughing.   
  
  
  
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"I'm home!!!" They heard the front door open and small clicking footsteps echoing the hallway of the Daidouji mansion. Tomoyo welcomed her mother with a loving hug, while Eriol watched with amusement at the bond between mother and daughter.  
  
"Okaeri nasai! (welcome home!)" Tomoyo said, unwrapping herself from her mother's embrace. "Okasan, it looks like we have a guest for dinner tonight," she told her.  
  
Daidouji Sonomi looked at her daughter strangely. "Nani?" She looked pass her daughter and noticed a tall young man hiding behind Tomoyo, though, he wasn't quite hiding, since his head could still be seen from where her daughter was standing. "What's this? I go away for a month and you already have a boyfriend?" Sonomi joked, looking at her daughter suspiciously.  
  
Tomoyo blushed, sweat pouring from the sides of her face nervously. Why do people think that so much? "Iiee, Okasan. Remember Eriol Hiragizawa? He came here in Elementary and went to school with us in Tomoeda."  
  
Sonomi gently put her suitcases down beside her on the floor and studied the boy carefully. She looked him up and down, trying to remember exactly the boy that Tomoyo said about. "So, you are Eriol," Tomoyo's mother spoke. She wasn't quite sure if she was correct, but she saw him one time at the family picnic, accompanied by a strange looking girl with long, purplish hair. "I'm not sure if I'm right, but did you come one time at the family picnic all those years ago?"  
  
Eriol nodded. "Hai! I don't quite remember it either, but I was there and saw Tomoyo sing a beautiful song." He turned to Tomoyo. "What was that song you sang?"  
  
Tomoyo blushed and shook her head. "I don't remember really..." She paused and looked at her mother. "Well, since you do remember him, I'm sure you wouldn't mind, Okasan?"  
  
Sonomi nodded. "Of course not." She walked pass the two and entered the kitchen cautiously. Nicely prepared meals were already on the table, her favourite dessert and appetizers were all there and Sonomi couldn't help but feel overjoyed. She clasped her hands together, her eyes twinkling in delight. "Ahhhh.... The food looks delicious!"  
  
Tomoyo glanced at Eriol. "Well, without, Eriol-kun, I wouldn't have been able to finish making dinner before you came home and without him, the dinner would never have been this great!"   
  
Daidouji Sonomi sat down on her usual spot on the dining table, one closest to the door and insisted that Eriol and Tomoyo sit as well. Her daughter sat on the opposite side of her, while Eriol, with his choice, sat down to the left of Tomoyo. Sonomi noticed the strangest look she has ever seen on Eriol. She wasn't sure if it was adoration or just plain friendliness towards Tomoyo. Tomoyo smiled back at him. Strangely enough for her, Sonomi has never seen her daughter smile so much. She never stayed long enough to watch her daughter carefully when she left for school, since she was never home to watch. Nuriko reported to her once that Tomoyo seemed depressed lately ever since Sakura and Syaoran left for China. At that time, Sonomi was in Canada, selling one of the most popular toys. All the reports given to her were always how Tomoyo never smiled as much as she did when she was nine or ten, but Sonomi suspected sometimes that her daughter was just hiding it behind her smile. Now, as she watched Tomoyo, the smile on her face was that of a real smile. Something she has never actually seen on her daughter. Sonomi glanced at the boy sitting beside her. He was speaking to her and making her laugh. Something about the boy made her daughter feel better. It was the closeness they had, the bond they shared that both of them are too blind to see.  
  
  
  
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Dinner ended quickly than it had started. Tomoyo and Eriol, with Sonomi's suggestion, decided to go for a little walk in the warmest night in Tomoeda. Eriol thanked Sonomi for having him over for dinner, while she thanked him for helping Tomoyo with the dinner. They all exchanged their 'thank you's' before the two left for a night walk. They talked maybe for hours about everything, the memories in Tomoeda, Sakura's card capturing days, Tomoyo's videotapes of her and even shared their most precious secrets to each other. Tomoyo shared her childhood secrets mostly, about how she felt when her parents divorced. She chose to forget the painful memories of feeling neglected when her father remarried again and had two sons, both now thirteen. Eriol revealed things that only she knew. He spoke of his dreams of becoming a pianist when he was a child or maybe a writer. It was something both Tomoyo and Eriol had never done all their lives. It was as if they were old friends. They promised each other not to discuss the most touching subjects, ones that involved the people they love. The happiest days were the most inviting for both of them. During those talks, Tomoyo felt she knew Eriol better and Eriol felt he knew Tomoyo better as well from everything she has told him.  
  
They walked down to Penguin Park, a suggestion Eriol gave to Tomoyo, because it was the only place that made him feel comfortable to talk about things. Tomoyo didn't mind that much, so she went with the plan. When they arrived, Tomoyo ran ahead of Eriol and skipped towards the swings like a little child. She sat down on the center swing and moved her legs slowly. Eriol walked behind her and began to push her, to Tomoyo's surprise. They were quiet for a moment, until Eriol broke his promise and began to ask her questions she dreaded to answer.  
  
"How are you feeling, Tomoyo? Do you still feel hurt about everything?"  
  
Tomoyo glanced up at Eriol. "What do you mean?" At first she didn't understand and once she did, she wished now she didn't. She felt Eriol pushing her gently on the swings, the warm wind tickling her bare neck. She looked away from him and stared ahead at the empty street.  
  
Eriol grabbed the chains of the swings to stop her from swinging and looked down on her. "Stop pretending to be hurt, Tomoyo. I know you're still hurt about Syaoran and Sakura getting engaged..." He paused. He had forgotten that Tomoyo never knew about their engagement. Ahhh, crap! He thought. He glanced at her. The girl was not moving, she seemed petrified, or frozen in shock with the news. Eriol slapped himself mentally for being inconsiderate with his words.  
  
Tomoyo pressed her feet on the ground to stop swinging and stood up, making no attempts to look at Eriol whatsoever. She walked to the bench quietly and sat down, her head bowed down and her bangs covering the sadness on her face. "Why... Why did you have to say that, Eriol?"  
  
"I thought you knew," Eriol lied. He knew that Syaoran never spoke to her about it, because his young descendant was smart enough to know that Tomoyo has been in love with him for the longest time.   
  
The girl said nothing for a moment, then looked up with tearful eyes. Her face was swollen with redness from crying and her mouth relaxed into a frown. "Of all the people, Eriol Hiragizawa should know how I feel." She stood up, clenching her fists at her sides and began to walk away.  
  
Eriol ran to her and when he had caught up to her, he grabbed her arm gently and pulled her back so he could see her face. "Tomoyo-chan, is running away the only thing you can ever do?"  
  
Tomoyo attempted to release herself from his grip, but Eriol wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for an embrace. "Tomoyo-chan," he whispered. "There's no need to hide now. Tell me how you feel. I'm here for you." To his surprise and with all her strength, Tomoyo pushed him with both her hands. Eriol fell down on his rear, still shocked and confused by the girl's actions. With one last glance towards him, Tomoyo turned and walked away.  
  
  
  
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She didn't know what she was doing. She had walked maybe for about four hours already. It was now past midnight, but Tomoyo didn't care. She just wanted to be alone right now, without Eriol's constant pressure about how she felt. Why would he care? Pity. That is what all he ever thought to anyone he knew. He felt pity for her. Pity that she felt alone for the very first time. The storm clouds began to hover overhead. Then, rain began to pour wildly on her tired self. Self consciously, without a care in the world, Tomoyo continued to walk through the cold rain. She was shivering, but she ignored all of it for the sake of wanting to run away from everything else.   
  
'Tomoyo, why do you do this to yourself?' a voice spoke in her head.   
  
Eriol's voice came back to haunt her mind. 'There's no need to hide now. Tell me how you feel. I'm here for you.'   
  
Tomoyo remembered how she pushed him as hard as she could. She felt guilty for that, but there was no time to ponder that, as she thought about Syaoran and Sakura's wedding. How can she have loved Syaoran? She betrayed her only best friend in the whole world. "Gomen nasai, Sakura," she whispered to herself. If she felt sorry, why does she feel she's not at all?   
  
Jealousy.   
  
For the first time in all her life, she felt jealousy for the only girl who has been her friend since kindergarten. The rain continued to pour. It now soaked through her purple sundress. Her hair was now disheveled from the strong winds, mixed with the rain. It rained even harder now as she entered one of the secluded woods in Tomoeda.  
  
  
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He cursed and kicked himself for being such a bastard! "Damn it!" he swore, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The rain was pouring, but to him it didn't matter. He just thought of the rain as God's punishment for being such a baka towards Tomoyo-chan. Eriol, what were you doing embracing her like that? He told himself. What was in his mind? He didn't love the girl. Did he? Eriol shook his head. How can he be in love with Tomoyo when they have nothing in common at all? He had Kaho.   
  
"Come to think of it, Kaho hasn't been in my mind for days," he whispered. "Aggh! Baka!" He slapped a hard hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. Tomoyo WAS special. For years she was there when Sakura needed help. She was her support, but every time Tomoyo felt hurt, she would just smile and pretend like nothing happened. Eriol saw the real sadness in Tomoyo's eyes, but when he was ready to comfort her, he was already too late. She was ashamed of who she was. "Tomoyo..." He murmured.  
  
"Hiragizawa-kun! Hiragizawa-kun!" Eriol paused, looking around for the source of the voice. He turned behind him and noticed a very concerned Sonomi Daidouji running towards him with an umbrella. She seemed panicked and Eriol knew something must have happened to Tomoyo.   
  
"Daidouji-san!" Eriol spoke, his eyes widening in shock. "What's going on?"  
  
Sonomi finally caught up with him. She took a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak. "Tomoyo never home, Eriol-san! Where is she?"  
  
Eriol looked at her. "I don't know what you're talking about. I thought she went home on her own after..." he paused, not wanting to bring that subject up again.   
  
The woman shook her head. "Iiee! She never came home, Eriol-san! I thought maybe she was still with you!"  
  
The young man said nothing.  
  
Sonomi frowned. "She hasn't been home for an hour now. Where could she have gone? I'm beginning to feel worried!" She looked around frantically.  
  
Eriol placed a hand on her shoulder to calm the woman down. "You have to calm down, Daidouji-san... I'll look for her somewhere in the park. She couldn't have gone far. You can start looking for her around the neighborhood."  
  
Sonomi nodded. "Hai." She turned with a pounding heart. Eriol watched her speed up just a little bit as she turned a corner and then disappear behind the building. Eriol turned around to face the well known Tomoeda forest parks. The rain poured even madder than before on him and the storm clouds began to darken the skies blacker. Eriol felt a sign from the skies. Something was amiss and he had to find Tomoyo soon, before anything else happens.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Wooh! Finally! Finish this chapter! Well, that's all folks! See you on the next chappy! :D SAYONARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	9. Careless

Note: Uh... right.... I know I haven't been committing to the stories and yes I do plan on finishing all of them, but because I have school to worry about, I couldn't, but from this day forward, maybe even after my midterms, I plan to finish them once and for all, especially this one! Get ready for Chapter 9 and my short summary for this is: Eriol finds Tomoyo (finally!) after a few hours and Tomoyo finally reveals her true feelings to Eriol and that's all I'm going to say! I'll leave all the reading to my reviewers! :D Well... Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Chapter 9 - Careless   
  
  
  
Unlike the perfect person people thought she was, Tomoyo was filled with grief and sorrow that she could no longer compress in her thoughts. The darkness and the rain reflected everything that she was feeling right now and even though she knew she can still find her way out, she chose not to. She wanted to show the whole world, she was no longer the 'sweet little angel' people see her to be. Her long hair clung tightly on her wet back, same with the skirt of her dress that now stuck itself between her legs, however, she did not give a damn. In her mind, nothing else mattered.   
  
"Tomoyo..."   
  
She heard it, the faint call of a deep voice in the distance. She heard someone calling her name, but all she wanted to do now was stay in that position forever, her hands on her lap and her head bowed down while she sat on a log that seemed to have waited for her when she got there. In that position, she shivered and all she could ever think about was how she had lost everything. She had lost the only person she truly cared for and that person was engaged to someone else... her best friend... her companion... Sakura...   
  
"Tomoyo!" The voice was getting closer and getting louder. She heard footsteps nearby, but neither she moved her head, nor glance at who it was, instead she sat there, shoulders hunched lazily. Questions suddenly invaded her thoughts. Why was she here? Why does she even exist? Is she alive just to make everyone and herself miserable?   
  
"Tomoyo!" Tomoyo closed her eyes. She heard it again- that same voice that was now louder than the previous call. The footsteps were close and Tomoyo had finally heard it stop nearby. This time, without taking any more hesitations, she looked up and noticed a tall figure standing there, his eyes filled with worry. With one last look, she put her head back down to its original position and she stayed like that, fatigue now taking over her eyes.  
  
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"Tomoyo!" He called. He knew she heard him, but he also knew that she didn't care at that point. Eriol ran to her side, gently shaking her from her reverie and when she did not look up again, his worst fears had come true. He placed a hand underneath her chin and lifted up her head towards him. Tomoyo then, had opened her eyes; Eriol's heart beat slowing down a little when she noticed him.   
  
"Why are you here, Eriol?" she whispered, gently- so gently, that Eriol was almost enable to understand her. Tomoyo turned her head away from him. "Why do you even bother to make me feel better? You knew all along how I was feeling!" She looked back at him with tear-filled eyes. "Why did you make it worst?"  
  
Eriol said nothing; instead, he picked her up in his arms and began to carry her away. He could hear Tomoyo whisper some more meaningless words that he could not ignore. Every word spoken from that moment burned in his soul- every hateful comment.   
  
"I hate you, Eriol..." Tomoyo went on. "You feel pity for me, that's what. You feel pity for what I've turned out to be."  
  
"Exactly why would you feel pity for her is the question I want to know, Hiragizawa?" Eriol paused, then turned around, his feet splashing a small puddle. Taking the spot where Tomoyo had sat, on top of the log, stood Jiro, his eyes searching his mind for the answer and when he could not, he continued to wait until Eriol answered for him.  
  
"You're doing this to her, aren't you?" Eriol spoke, almost to a whisper.  
  
Jiro looked at him strangely. "You're accusing me of something I didn't do? Why, that's unlike you, Eriol. You think I'm the cause of this? Look at yourself in the mirror and ask what is the reason for Tomoyo's turmoil."  
  
Eriol glanced at Tomoyo, her eyes closed and now filled with pain. He glanced back up at Jiro, staring him straight in the eyes. He knew the answer now and there was no denying it.   
  
"Because you were so careless," Jiro went on. "You broke down the barrier that was Tomoyo. It seemed you broke every bone in her body, crushed it and fed it to the dogs." Jiro smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "I should've dug deeper into your mind Eriol, then I could've used you as my personal destroyer of the mind of a woman. It would have been easy for me to get Kaho."  
  
"Well, you lost your chance," Eriol replied. He turned to walk away, but was stopped as Jiro spoke the last few words he knew, Eriol could not resist to answer.  
  
"You think this will solve the problem, Eriol? You think that when you take her home and make her feel better, that all will be bright and merry after that?"  
  
Eriol turned her head towards the form of the twelve-year-old boy. "It won't be bright and merry until I kill you," he spoke, with menace in his voice. Startled by his choice of words, Jiro said nothing as the boy watched Eriol take the half-unconscious girl back to shelter.   
  
  
  
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She didn't know how long she was running, but her legs were moving, her arms swaying and her hair blowing behind her. Ahead, she noticed a figure waiting for her by the beach. She reached out to him and he to her, but every time she took a step towards him, he went further away, without even moving his feet. He was fading into the distance.   
  
"Follow me, Tomoyo," he whispered to her. Tomoyo nodded, running much faster as the figure began to disappear into a bright light. "I'll let you out of the dark." The figure held out his hand to her and this time, Tomoyo finally reached her hand, taking her to another place. Bright light surrounded her and she found herself dragged into a warp hole, beautiful swirling colors dancing around her. Just in front of her, she was staring at the back of the figure's head as she held on tightly to his hand.   
  
"Where are you taking me?" she asked, tilting her head to see who it was. She could not quite see him, for there was a hood on his head in the way.  
  
"Somewhere where you belong," he replied.  
  
Tomoyo frowned. "I don't belong anywhere," she spoke.  
  
The figure finally turned head, Tomoyo's hopes rising up to see who it was, however, the face was covered in black and she could barely see the contours of his face. "That's not true. You belong somewhere, but all you have to do is find it in your heart."  
  
Tomoyo tried to see his face, but she was too scared to move as she and the figure moved through the flashing light. "Who are you?"  
  
The figure turned his head towards her, his face masked in a dark mask. She could tell he was male, by the way he held her, his large hands surrounding her smaller ones. "Whatever you want me to be."  
  
The girl was confused by his words. She stared at him. "I don't understand." Could this be him? Syaoran? No... it didn't look like him. This man was taller than Syaoran was. Taller and less built than Syaoran.  
  
"Sooner or later, you will," he spoke. Suddenly, he let go of her hand, startling Tomoyo. The girl panicked, as she reached towards him. She tried to grab his hand, but he just flew further away from her.   
  
"Wait, don't leave me, onegai! (please!)." Tomoyo pleaded. She reached for him again, but this time, he just stared at Tomoyo, his expression unbeknownst to her. Tomoyo stopped reaching for him, for she knew what he was going to do. He was going to leave her floating in this vortex. "Why? Why do you want to leave me?"  
  
The man shook his head. "I don't want to leave you at all. I just want you to open your eyes and come back to where you belong. You say you don't belong anywhere? Well, that's where you're wrong, Tomoyo-san. You belong to someone, to them, your family and friends." He began to float backwards as he neared the brightest light.   
  
Tomoyo floated towards him, flapping her hands as if she was swimming. The figure held his arms towards her, while he continued to float backwards, moving his feet to indicate his direction. He stopped only a couple inches between the line that divided light and dark and waited for Tomoyo. When she was close enough, Tomoyo reached out with her hand once more and this time, he had taken it. He pulled her gently towards him and before she could take a glance behind her, she had opened her eyes to another place.  
  
  
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The sunlight reached the delicates of her brow and with one squint of her closed eyes; she finally opened them to reveal a new day. Tomoyo was greeted with a warm smile from her mother, as she turned her neck to her left to find her sitting on her bedside.   
  
"Ohayo, Tomoyo," Daidouji Sonomi whispered, reaching out to stroke her daughter's cheek. Her fever had gone down, to Sonomi's relief, but she knew Tomoyo needed more time to rest to fully recover, especially from the pain that her daughter must have felt that drove her to get wet in the rain. "It was a good thing Hiragizawa-san found you before the rain poured harder. It took him a lot of effort to bring you here and a lot of courage to take you to the bathtub so I could undress you from your wet clothes."  
  
Tomoyo looked pass her mother and found Eriol sitting on a chair sleeping, his chin touching his heaving chest. He was no longer dressed in his usual attire that made him look like a student from high school. He was dressed in a blue turtle necked sweater and black corduroy pants. "Those were... father's pants and sweater."  
  
Sonomi turned her head towards Eriol and nodded her head. "I had no other choice. I couldn't let him leave without a change of clothes, or else he would've been the one catching the fever. I found some extra clothes that your father left before he... left..." She took a deep breath.   
  
"Did he stay up all night?" Tomoyo asked, looking up at her mother.  
  
Daidouji-san turned her head back towards her daughter and nodded. "He was up until five in the morning just taking care of you. He checked your temperature to make sure you weren't getting sick. He was actually doing all the work that I wanted to do." When she noticed Tomoyo blush, Sonomi placed a hand on her head and stroked her hair. "He was really worried about you. We both were."  
  
Tomoyo glanced back at Eriol, who had stirred in his sleep and was blinking his eyes as a sign of waking up. When he noticed her watching him, he lifted up his head and smiled. "You're awake," Eriol spoke softly.  
  
Sonomi smiled towards Eriol. "Thank you again, Eriol," she said, before standing up. With one last stroke of her daughter's cheek, she left the room quietly, leaving the two alone.   
  
Eriol stood up and walked up to her bed. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Tomoyo nodded. "Tired, but I'll live," she replied, smiling.   
  
The boy nodded. "That's good. I'm glad you're all right." He turned to leave, but Tomoyo caught his arm before it became unreachable and looked at him straight in the eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry, Eriol-kun," she spoke. She remembered the words she said to him. Even though she didn't mean she hated him, Tomoyo knew Eriol was still hurt by it.   
  
Eriol smiled kindly. "There's no need to be sorry," he said. He turned his head away from her. "I should be the one who's sorry. I was being careless."  
  
The girl holding onto him let go of his arm slowly. Oh how he wished she wouldn't. Her touch made him feel warmer than Kaho's touch. For the first time in his life, he felt something that he has never felt with Kaho before. Before he could speak, Tomoyo had already sat up from bed, alarming him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "You shouldn't get up," he warned.  
  
Tomoyo insisted on getting up as she gently took his hand from her shoulder. "Just hang on, Eriol. Don't go yet." Without a second thought, Tomoyo quickly lifted herself up from bed, so she was now standing beside the tall teen and went on her tiptoes. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, before her headache gave way, almost falling backwards. Luckily, Eriol was close enough to catch her fall. He led her back to the bed and laid her down gently.   
  
"Why don't you just go to sleep, ne?" Eriol whispered in her ear, before leaning back to watch her lay there as she stared up at him. Suddenly, without giving it a second thought, Tomoyo sat up once more.  
  
"Oh no! The dance! The dance is coming up! I haven't started on my dress yet! I..." She felt Eriol's hand on her mouth. Tomoyo glanced at him with a questioning look.  
  
Eriol shook his head. He placed a hand on her forehead. "Don't worry about that now, Tomoyo. You need your rest." He watched as Tomoyo's eyes started to blink to a close.  
  
Her eyes were getting heavier as Eriol laid her back on the bed. Suddenly, she was getting tired, though she has no idea that Eriol was working his magic on her to make her sleep. Even though Tomoyo was curious, she was getting too tired to think as her eyes completely shut tight. Eriol watched her finally go to sleep, the thought of Tomoyo kissing his cheek making him blush, but he shook that out quickly. With one more glance towards her, he turned around and was startled to see a single fabric wrapped around a thick pole on the floor that he had not noticed when he came in. This pole, laid flat on the floor, completely laid out flat as if no one has touched it for a while. He watched the shiny fabric with curiosity and when he could no longer stand the suspense, Eriol picked it up and unrolled the fabric from the pole carefully, the smell of the newly bought item engulfing his nostrils. One short fabric, cut in a rectangle, fell out from the pole and with one swift hand; Eriol caught the fabric in his palms. The silk felt wonderful in his fingers and with one glance towards the sleeping teenager, he placed the pole underneath his arms and began to look for the rest of the sewing kit somewhere in her room.   
  
  
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The afternoon sun touched the contours of her face, waking her up from her sleep once again. Twice, the sun was her alarm clock and twice, it woke her up less noisily than the machine that flashed red in her bedroom at night. If her real alarm clock were on, she would have been late for school. It was easy to turn off the alarm clock, than turning off the rays of the sun during school days. SCHOOL! Tomoyo quickly opened her eyes and sat up from bed. She had forgotten about school. Hurriedly, she got up from bed, slipped her feet in her slippers and turned her whole body towards the direction of her bedroom, when she suddenly stopped short. Sitting on the empty chair to where Eriol had sat, was a white, off shoulder gown, with its bell-like sleeves resting on the armrest as if it was a real person sitting. Purple swirls of colour began from the right shoulder area down to the bottom of the left leg, making zigzag patterns around the dress. The sleeves, which she noticed earlier, was also white, but the kind of purple she bought from the Silk shop, was attached only to the edge of the sleeves, making a 'v' shaped pattern from the elbow down to the bottom. Tomoyo walked over to the chair and picked up the dress, examining it some more. The neck part of the dress, she realized had a 'u' shaped curve, showing a little of the skin from above the chest area, but not too much that it would show cleavage. Eriol must have known that she was a modest person. Tomoyo looked at the skirt, which was leaning more towards the right by looking at it and if she were wearing it, the edge of the skirt would only go down maybe two inches from the ground to the left. The other half of the skirt only reached until her knees, so only her right leg was showing.   
  
Taking a deep breath, she placed the dress close to her face, closed her eyes and smelled the new fabric. She imagined Eriol sitting on the chair with the fabric in one hand, while the needle, with the thread looped through the hole, in the other. She expected to have the pincushion and the sewing basket and the small pieces of leftover fabric, on the floor after he was done, so Tomoyo looked down for any signs of it, but there was none. The floor was clean and spotless.   
  
"Tomoyo? Are you awake?" The girl heard a knock on the door and as she turned her head towards the door, she noticed her mother enter.   
  
Daidouji-san stepped inside the room quietly, afraid she to disturb her daughter from her sleep, however, as she looked up, she was surprised to see her daughter well, holding a beautiful gown that she held close to her heart as she stood in front of the mirror. "Oh, Tomoyo!" Sonomi gasped, smiling with all her heart's content. "Your dress is magnificent!" She touched the smooth fabric of the dress and glanced at her daughter curiously. "How did you make it so quickly?"  
  
Tomoyo looked up from her daydream and shook her head. She hesitated for a moment, wanting to say in her head that she made the dress, but decided against it. "Eriol... Hiragizawa Eriol made it- for me." Expecting her mother to feel surprised that Eriol made the dress, Tomoyo took a deep breath, however, as she held it in, her mother smiled, glanced at the dress one more time and started to walk out of her room. "Wait..." she called. Sonomi paused. "Aren't you a bit curious on why he made this dress?"  
  
Sonomi turned and shook her head. "Not really, but I think you're the one who's curious. Am I right?" Without giving Tomoyo a chance to answer, she turned to leave and closed the door behind her. She knew the answer on why Eriol did it. Sonomi also had a feeling that Eriol knew it as well, but he's just denying it. He was still trying to get over this Kaho person he kept mumbling about in his dreams while he slept on that chair. Who knows... maybe he has gotten over her.   
  
Tomoyo sighed. Her mother's words puzzled her. What did she mean? She put her dress gently back on the couch; back the way Eriol had placed it, then left the room quietly. Quickly glancing at the clock in the living room, just above the fireplace, she sighed at the amount of time, before she had to go to school. Nuriko greeted her with a smile, putting breakfast on the table as Tomoyo entered the dining room. Her mother was already sitting on the other end of the long table that divided Tomoyo from the only member of her family. She sat down on the other side and watched her mother look up from her breakfast.   
  
"Aren't you staying to rest for a while?" Sonomi asked, putting a spoonful of eggs in her mouth. Her mother was used to eating English breakfast ever since her vacation in America all those years ago.  
  
Tomoyo shook her head. "I need to get ready for school. I have a few hours, but I want to work on my studying for a while."  
  
Nuriko, who had stood by Sonomi's side, glanced at her master, and then together, the two stared at Tomoyo curiously. "It is Saturday, Tomoyo-sama," Nuriko spoke.  
  
The girl stared at her. "It is?"  
  
"Hai," Nuriko replied.  
  
Without making an expression that she was wrong, Tomoyo smiled and nodded. "So it is. I think I will go for a walk, since it is a nice day." Standing up, Tomoyo bowed to her mother and Nuriko and left the dining room without another word. Since there was no school, it all the better to search for Eriol, wherever he went off to.  
  
  
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"You never give up do you?" Jiro appeared from the bushes behind the backyard of the Ajibana residence, a family, whom Eriol knew quite well when he was just a child. Ajibana Fumiaki, the son of Ajibana Hidehira, owned a restaurant just two blocks from Daidouji Tomoyo's home. With his staff in his hands, Eriol assumed position for a fight. The form of a twelve-year-old boy stepped up from the shadows and into the sunlight that made the day beautiful. Behind him, appeared a figure that he had not seen for weeks now. Eriol braced himself to come face to face with Mizuki Kaho once again. "You know, I was so touched with what you did for Tomoyo," Jiro spoke; with so much sarcasm, that Eriol wished he could hurt him now.  
  
"Shut up, Jiro!" Eriol yelled, his patience fading from his brain. "I want to get this over with. We didn't get a chance to finish what we started back in China." He pointed his staff towards Kaho. "Once I get rid of you, I'll have Kaho back..." By the time he had a chance to finish his sentence, his words were interrupted by a gasp from behind him. Turning his head, Eriol was shocked to find Tomoyo there, her hands clasped over mouth. Tears flowed down her cheeks, unable to control it any longer. "To- Tomoyo?"  
  
Tomoyo stared at him; her eyes glowed in shock, even though there held an expression that she knew in the first place about Eriol's plan to destroy Jiro so he could get Kaho back. She shook her head in disbelief. It was just pity that he carried her from the rain and cared for her. It was pity that he made that dress just so she could go to the dance. Tomoyo didn't give Eriol a chance to explain, as she turned and fled from the scene folding before her. She could hear Eriol call her name, just beneath the chuckles of Jiro and the noise children were making in the playground nearby.   
  
A few seconds later, Tomoyo disappeared from everyone's sight.  
  
"I guess, you had everyone fooled," Jiro spoke, after watching the girl disappear.   
  
Eriol turned back towards Jiro. He wanted to tell Tomoyo what he was about to say just now, but there was no time for that. His first priority now was finishing off Jiro so he can move on with their lives. "Let's just get this over with."  
  
Jiro smirked. "Fine, whatever you want."   
  
Eriol watched as Jiro raised his staff over his head, his staff ten times as tall as he. The tall teen raised his own staff in front of him, ready for battle. Once this was finished, he was going to talk to Tomoyo and explain to her that she was the one he cared for. She was the one he loved. Kaho was no longer in his mind. It was Tomoyo.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Wooh! That was a long one. I was trying to find the emotions and all that stuff. Well, I hope you enjoyed this one! Thanx! I'm almost done though, so don't worry! Almost there!!!!!!! 


	10. Lost of innocence

Note: I apologize to those who read Reflection In the Mirror and expected more chapters, but it never came and I'm sorry for that. Please forgive me, because... to be honest, I haven't been committing myself and also because I haven't had any good ideas lately, for I was worried about some other things for school. Thanks for understanding, but hey here is another chapter you've all been waiting for! Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Chapter 10 - Lost of innocence  
  
  
  
  
  
The moment she stepped out of range for him to hear her footsteps, Tomoyo felt she could no longer contain the emotions brewing inside her. Deceived twice by his feelings for her and by his actions towards her, thinking he felt the same way about her, Tomoyo did not know what to believe in anymore. Still, despite her feelings for him and her feelings for Syaoran, she could not stop them from loving someone else. The girl paused, then wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeves. She was right what she said before. All Eriol felt was pity for her. He felt pity because she was lonely and had no one else to love her, besides her mother. She could have a father to love her, but she didn't know him. She had no idea where he was. All this time, the only person who ever truly loved her, was her best friend Sakura and how does she return her love for her cousin?   
  
By betraying her trust and loving Syaoran as well.   
  
She heard a distant cry behind her. Thinking it to be Eriol, Tomoyo jerked her head to the way she came and held her breath. She wanted to go back and help him, but all she can do was watch and do nothing about it. Eriol was not doing everything for her... he was doing it all for Kaho. He wanted Kaho back as much as Tomoyo wanted him to love her. Besides, how can Tomoyo ever truly love Eriol? He was Eriol after all... he was kind and generous, always willing to help any way he can. Just like her... maybe...  
  
Tomoyo shook her head. No... she mustn't stop. She has to go on and forget him. 'What if he gets hurt?' a voice spoke inside her head. The girl stopped short. For everything that Eriol has done, the least she could do is support him through it all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to help him rescue the only person he'll ever love. If she did, Kaho and Eriol will live happily forever. That is all she can do for the time being for Eriol, for being so kind and comforting throughout the days that she has been breaking down.   
  
  
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"You are just king of bad news, aren't you? You sure know how to win a girl's heart!" Jiro cackled, blocking Eriol's lightning with a shield spell. Eriol cast wind spell on him, but Jiro did not even wince from the attack. "Is that the best you can do?"  
  
Eriol lifted up his staff and glared at Jiro. "Is that the best YOU can do? TALK?" The young man yelled, putting his arms back down, casting another spell to his enemy. The fire burst from the jewel attached on Eriol's staff and twirled violently towards Jiro, only to be abolished by Jiro's Ice Catapult.   
  
Jiro smirked. He saw Eriol's lack of concentration. He was still thinking about Tomoyo. "Well, now I know how I can win from you. Ja ne, Eriol!" He waved his hand at the confused Eriol and disappeared behind a cloud of smoke that appeared around them.  
  
Eriol ran to where Jiro had disappeared and looked around frantically, calling his name. "Jiro! Is running away your only option for defeating me?"  
  
"That and your precious Tomoyo!" Jiro voice echoed with the sound of the wind around the park. He could hear the young sorcerer laugh harshly, Eriol's ears constantly ringing from it.   
  
Eriol froze, his eyes widened in fear. "Tomoyo!" he whispered.  
  
  
  
  
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Tomoyo jerked her head behind her. She thought she heard her name being called. "No, that can't be..." Eriol? She thought. Shaking her head, she sighed and continued to head towards home, when all of a sudden, she could not move her legs. Tomoyo gasped, trying hard to lift up one leg, but it was to no avail. "Nani?" she spoke to herself. Her voice sounded hollow. Hollow?   
  
"Tomoyo!" Tomoyo turned around and noticed Eriol coming. She wanted to run and get away from him. Why didn't she ever run away before? She would have avoided facing him. But then again... why couldn't she move?   
  
"Eriol! Naze? Why can't I move?" She watched as Eriol approached her fast, but stopped short when his body hit something hard in front of her. There was some kind of force and as Eriol lifted up a hand and knocked hard on it, he heard a clinking sound. He realized now that Tomoyo was trapped inside a glass shaped wall.  
  
The tall boy slapped his clenched fist against the glass, but it was no use. The glass was far too thick for him to break with just a hand. Eriol stood back and watched closely. Maybe magic will break it, he thought.  
  
"Ah, you see, Eriol, it's far too thick for you to break with your magic. You can't concentrate because your sights are on Tomoyo too much. Do you remember that day all those years ago of what father told us?"  
  
Eriol did not listen. He lifted up his staff over his head, closing his eyes to cast a spell, when a hard knock interrupted him. Eriol opened his eyes again and noticed Tomoyo on her knees, her face blue from suffocation. The boy stopped, putting his hands frantically on the cool glass, calling Tomoyo's name.  
  
"Tomoyo!" he yelled. Eriol gasped, as Tomoyo was growing weaker and weaker inside. She was about to collapse on the ground, but Eriol noticed the way Tomoyo was trying so hard to keep herself alive.   
  
Tomoyo looked up and found herself staring straight into Eriol's bright blue eyes, her eyebrows lifting up and her mouth twisting into a smile. She opened her mouth to say something, but the thin air around her was chocking her fast that she was losing her breathing. Unaware of Jiro's presence behind him, Eriol slammed another fist against the glass wall and called her name again, telling her to live for him. Tomoyo heard it, but she wasn't sure if he meant it at all. She wasn't sure anymore if she ever wanted to live. She wasn't sure anymore. Eriol was doing this out of pity and Syaoran... where was Syaoran? "Eriol..." she whispered, so softly that she wasn't sure herself if she heard it.  
  
"Eriol, your concentration is no longer with you. Too bad I have to kill you before you noticed." Jiro spoke, mostly to himself. He lifted up a small hand in the air, then opened his mouth to chant up a spell, courtesy of the genius the woman was who had given him this power, but it was nothing compared to the power his father gave the stranger that was Eriol. The title of Clow Leed belonged to him and not Eriol. "I'm going to take back what belongs to me!"  
  
The girl opened her eyes. She felt it. Somehow, she felt it. Her eyes widened in fear when she noticed Jiro hovering behind Eriol. Tomoyo weakly and quickly lifted up her arm to warn the boy. "Eriol..." she whispered, the air getting thinner by the second.   
  
Eriol looked at her, furrowing her eyebrows curiously. He placed a palm against her hand and shook his head. "I don't understand, Tomoyo," he spoke.  
  
With one last breath, Tomoyo opened her mouth and shouted, "LOOK OUT!" After that, all Tomoyo could see was darkness as she collapsed on the ground, never to wake up again.  
  
"TOMOYO!" Eriol jerked his head around. He heard her shout. He heard it. A blue light was coming straight towards him. If he moved now, that blue light could crash towards Tomoyo and he couldn't have that. Swiftly, he cast shield between him and the blue light that looked like could block the sun with its massive size. He held his breath, ready for the impact, glancing once or twice towards Tomoyo, calling her name.   
  
Suddenly....  
  
The blue light smashed against the young Sorcerer's shield that he created around himself. The ground shook and Eriol felt a large weight against his palm. He grimaced, the pain in his hands ready to break the wall of that aura that made him calm and collected. His emotions were ready to burst. How can he lose two people he truly cared for in just one year? Jiro. Jiro had done this to him!   
  
"You will never win, Eriol!" He heard Jiro speak against the noise of the fight between offence and defense. Eriol opened one eye, falling debris of cement that burst from the ground irritating his eyes. Jiro was hovering above him now, smirking with his young twelve year old face. The older boy grimaced. How can he smile like that after all that he has done?! He could no longer take it. Jiro had no heart. He had no soul. All this for magic, power and revenge. If he could go back in time, he would have given Jiro the position as Clow Leed.   
  
"No..." he said to himself. "Jiro was not given the position in the first place for a reason. He did not have the heart for it, as what father said."  
  
Hearing Eriol, Jiro grinded his teeth together in annoyance. "Fool! He was MY father! You took away my family, my home and everything that I held dear! You will give back what belongs to mine!" Jiro forced the blue light even harder against Eriol's shield.   
  
Eriol winced. His brother's magic was even more powerful than he ever imagined. Yet, he could not lose from someone who had given up his soul to the devil. He quickly glanced towards Tomoyo, her body un-moving and undisturbed. Eriol feared the worst. He could feel his arm losing its strength against the mighty force and prayed that someone would help them. Anyone...even that annoying cute descendant of his.   
  
As if his prayers were answered, Eriol suddenly heard a cry from Jiro's lips; a cry so harsh and agonizing, that it was hard to believe anyone could stand the scream from him. The blue light vanished into thin air, leaving only the shield Eriol provided for himself and for Tomoyo. He looked up and saw a large shadow hovering over him, pointing a long sword towards his enemy.   
  
"Ran Ten Shou Lai!" (Thunder come forth) the figure yelled. A flash of lightning blinded Eriol for just a second, the sound of the rumbling earth banging in his ears, followed by another cry of anguish from Jiro. The figure landed safely in between him and their enemy and Eriol immediately recognized Syaoran's green Chinese robe.   
  
"Syaoran!" Eriol gasped in disbelief at his appearance. He thought he was still back in China.  
  
The younger man turned to look at him with a serious expression, his eyes quickly glazing over Tomoyo, then back at him. "I want you to get her out of here, now." He put his attention back on the enemy, holding back the pain in his throat. He cut his sword through the dome, setting Tomoyo free from the shield. He gently placed her head on the ground and ran passed Eriol to face the enemy that had hurt Sakura. . "I'll take care of this," he continued.  
  
Eriol shook his head. "This is my fight, Syaoran. You take Tomoyo and I'll take care of the situation." He scooped up Tomoyo in his arms and glanced down on her face. She looked peaceful, but sometimes looking peaceful while asleep was never a good a sign. He lifted her up in his arms and hesitated, glancing back at Syaoran. He was going to say something, when Syaoran's voice interrupted him.  
  
"Don't argue with me, Hiragizawa! We both know Tomoyo is going to die if we none of us do anything, so save your breath and get her out of here!" He shot another thunder towards Jiro, but it reflected back towards him from Jiro's reflect rays. Syaoran cast a large shield and it quickly absorbed all the lightning power in order to keep him and the other two from being hit.  
  
He knew Syaoran was right. Without arguing, Eriol quickly braced himself and ran as fast as he could from the scene, gently, yet firmly holding Tomoyo in his arms. They disappeared out of sight, from behind the trees and into the darkness where no one has ever disturbed the peace. Syaoran watched them and once they were gone, he turned his attention back towards Jiro, who was trying to keep his face straight, but Syaoran knew Jiro was still in pain from his attack earlier.   
  
"You will pay for that Li!" Jiro hissed, throwing his hands in the air. He opened his mouth and began to chant some foreign words and Syaoran waited for the moment for Jiro to finally attack. It may be a powerful one, but Syaoran was prepared for anything at that point to avenge Sakura.  
  
  
  
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Eriol ran as fast as he could, thinking that once Tomoyo was alive and was safe with someone, he could go back to Syaoran and help him. This was not only the boy's fight after all, since all three of them were like family. Syaoran was still his descendant and he was Jiro's older brother. Jiro never considered Eriol as his brother, but their father considered both of them his sons. Jiro never liked that.   
  
He ran pass a couple more trees, until he ended up in Penguin Park and remembered now that they weren't that far along from the Daidouji's home. Eriol hadn't run walked that far to meet with Jiro there. They were only just ten minutes from where they were. Tomoyo could easily survive this now. He believed it and he wanted her to believe it too.   
  
"Don't give up, Tomoyo," he whispered in her ear, drawing her face closer to his, so that they were both cheek to cheek. Her face was cold and even though her eyes were open and he could see her chest breathing up and down, Eriol felt the worst, but he shouldn't think that. He should just think positively and pray that everything was going to be all right. He was good at those things. He quickly placed a hand over her heart.   
  
The beating was slowing down.  
  
He looked up and noticed that he was now crossing the road, cars stopping abruptly and drivers honking their horns and calling him 'baka' for crossing the street without paying any attention. Pedestrians stopped to look at the maniac crossing the street with a girl in his arms, pointed at him and whispered to their neighbor beside them. Eriol didn't care. He had to save Tomoyo. He had to find a hospital quick.   
  
Yet, he was getting tired, but he didn't want to disappoint Tomoyo like he already did. He didn't want to fail her like what he had done to Kaho.   
  
He loved Tomoyo.  
  
"Arigatou Eriol-kun," she whispered, so softly, that he wasn't sure that those were the exact words she said.   
  
At that moment, Eriol felt himself flush, despite the situation they were in. He was breathing harder and there were tears dripping from his eyes, landing on Tomoyo's dress. Tomoyo shouldn't die. He didn't want her to. There were so many things he wanted to tell her. She was his pillar to his life and if she was ever broken, the whole world would come crashing down on him. He didn't know what he was saying at that point and frankly, he didn't care. Tomoyo depended on him now to let her live, to make her mother happy and to make his father proud of him.   
  
"We're almost there, Tomoyo," he whispered again, taking another glance towards her pale form. She still hadn't moved. He was hoping she just collapsed and would wake up soon, but her chest was not moving up and down and her eyes were not opening as if she had awoken from a dream. Eriol felt another tear falling from his eyes. At first he thought it was just sweat from running too much, but as he blinked, his vision became blurred from something wet and all he could see was a blob and that's when he realized he was crying. He was crying.   
  
Eriol couldn't believe it, but there was no time to ponder that. He ran faster, wanting to use his magic so much, but there no time. Using magic with his energy drained and in front of many people is reckless. He had learned that from his father, but he had never learned crying, let alone, emotionally for the one close to his heart. He never cried for Kaho and if he wanted to, he dared not show it. He never cried when his father died. He never cried at least once in his life and when he finally noticed another drop of tear streaming down his face, he didn't know how to handle the situation. He just threw the tears away with a swipe of his arms and ran faster, until they finally reached the Daidouji driveway, where Daidouji Sonomi was waiting. Upon noticing the, Sonomi ran frantically towards them and gasped at the sight of her daughter's pale form.   
  
Eriol felt it. Sonomi felt it.  
  
Tomoyo was no longer breathing.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: AAAAHHH! Another cliffhanger! Boy, am I good, or am I good? Heh heh! Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter! It's depressing, but sooner or later, it will turn out sweet and oddly enough, TOO SWEET! I don't want to give out anything, but stay tuned on the next chapter! See ya! ;) 


	11. The end of Jiro

*Hm...what to say? Well, nothing really. I've been lazy lately, because I did not have the computer for my bro was using it for karaoke for our party on Monday! Well, that's all folks! Hope you enjoy this chapter! See ya!  
  
  
Chapter 11 - The end of Jiro?   
  
  
  
He laid her down on the bed, her eyes still closed. His worst fears were coming true. He didn't want to lose her. Tapping the side of her face, Eriol looked up at the two people worthy of taking care of her. Sonomi ran beside her daughter while two nurses, followed by Amaya-sensei, pushed the stroller of the bed where Tomoyo was put and carried her inside a room. Eriol and Sonomi were gently told by sensei to wait in the hallway, while they took her inside to be revived. When they were both alone, the two, who dearly care for the person being carried inside the operating room, looked at each other. Tears were visible in Sonomi's eyes and Eriol could not believe it himself when his own tears came faster than before. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Tomoyo's mother and let her weep in his shirt, rubbing his hand on her back to calm her.  
  
"Eriol! I don't want to lose her! I don't want her to leave me! She's the only family I have left!" Sonomi gripped tightly at Eriol's shirt and wept some more.  
  
Eriol let go of her gently and looked into her eyes. "Then watch her for me. I have to go do something." He walked pass her, pausing to glance back at the room where Tomoyo was sent to and sighed, putting his eyes on Sonomi. "I know she'll live, Daidouji-san. I know she will. She has so many more things to solve in her life."  
  
"Then tell me, you love her. You might be the person she needs right now."  
  
The boy shook his head. "No. Right now, she needs her mother." With that spoken, he left the building, his staff appearing in his hand. He gripped it tightly and ran back to where he came from-- back at the battlefield.  
  
  
  
  
  
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He backed away so quickly, the weight of his weapon chocking him. Syaoran reached for his sword, but his hand was too restraint by the young boy's hand for him to move, despite how short the boy was compared to him. He looked into the young boy's glowering eyes, eyes full of hatred and vengeance.   
  
"You're not going to stop me from reaching my goal!" the boy spoke through his gritted teeth. He pushed harder, Syaoran's face now turning blue as he was backed up against a tree. He closed his eyes slowly, the energy draining from him, but he wasn't going to let some short boy overpower him. He had already embarrassed himself before when Eriol arrived at their elementary school all those years ago. He wasn't about to let some twelve-year-old boy overpower a seventeen year old.   
  
With all his strength, Syaoran moved one leg, attempting to kick him where it hurts, but the boy had faster hands, as he suddenly slammed a fist down at his knee, making Syaoran wince. Jiro laughed, looking back at the pained look on Syaoran. "You're not stopping me that easily!" Jiro hissed.  
  
"But I will!" Before the boy could turn, Jiro felt a sharp pain going through his body. He fell back away from the Chinese boy, his knees quavering in pain and his eyes starting to water. Jiro quickly turned his whole body around and noticed Eriol standing there, his staff ready in his hands. "This is final, Jiro! You're going to pay for what you did to Tomoyo!"  
  
"Baka! Get out of here!" Syaoran yelled from behind. He gathered himself together slowly, taking his arm away from his back and stood up, gripping the sword tightly in his hand. "What are you doing here?!"  
  
Eriol glared behind Jiro at Syaoran. "This isn't just your fight, Syaoran! Jiro is my concern, not yours!"  
  
Jiro smirked, regaining his energy back from the attack. "Awww, how nice of you to be concern about me. You must be so glad to see me."  
  
Eriol pointed his staff angrily at his younger brother. "And it will be the last that I will!" He stomped the end of his staff on the ground, closing his eyes to chant shield on himself and on Syaoran to keep themselves safe from Jiro's attacks. It may not be enough, but it was better than nothing.  
  
"Ooh, is that a threat coming from you, brother?" Jiro croaked, gripping his own staff tightly in his hands. He cast shield on himself, turning around to face the only person he will always loathe. "You can't kill me, Eriol. I will always be the descendant of my father, always will! Part of me may die, but other parts of me would not."  
  
Eriol did not care about listening to his words as he lifted his staff high in the air and cast thunder again, sending bolts of lightning towards his little brother. Jiro dodged that with a wave of his small, but powerful hand, where the taller boy's attack reflected, then headed back to him. The short boy, while the thunder roared towards Eriol, cast ice as well, waiting for the right moment, but not before he felt a sharp sword pointed at his neck.   
  
"Put your staff down!" Syaoran whispered harshly in his ear. He glanced at Eriol as he waved off his own thunder attack, and then looked back at the shorter boy. "I said, put it down!"  
  
Jiro smirked, his eyes fixated on Eriol. "You seem to have gotten along with my brother, Syaoran. The last I remembered, you and him did not have good communication with each other."  
  
"Shut up!" Syaoran hissed, putting the sword a little tighter against his neck.   
  
Eriol approached them slowly. "Syaoran, hold him still. I'm going to finish him off."  
  
"See, what he's telling you?" Jiro persisted. "He's bossing you around, is that what you want?" Syaoran winced. Jiro had hit the spot.  
  
Eriol paused in his tracks and glanced back up at Syaoran. Syaoran's eyes turned into slits and his hands were ready to let go of their enemy. The taller boy feared the worst as he watched Syaoran's eyes focused deathly on him. "Syaoran?"  
  
"No..." Syaoran shook his head, putting his arm back up around the boy's stomach, while he tightened the sword against Jiro's neck, making it bleed. "You won't take over my mind, Jiro! The only reason why I'm doing this is what you did to Sakura and to Tomoyo!"  
  
Eriol took a silent deep breath. For a moment there, he feared that Jiro might have gotten hold of Syaoran's mind.   
  
"Hiragizawa! What are you waiting for? I have him here, now finish him!" he heard Syaoran say. Eriol looked up and nodded, walking towards them quickly and when he was close enough, he lifted up his hand for an attack and looked into Jiro's eyes. His words suddenly echoed in his ears as if he could hear his thoughts.   
  
"You can't kill me, Eriol. I will always be the descendant of my father, always will! Part of me may die, but other parts of me would not," the voice hissed. Eriol shook his head. He had to finish this, had to do this for both Tomoyo and Sakura. Had to do this to the people he lost. He closed his eyes and chanted 'that' spell. A spell that he has not done for so long... something that was deadly to both him and his enemies. White glow surrounded him and green sparks buzzed from his glowing, yellow ball on his staff. Eriol waited for his whole body to glow brighter, waited for the right kind of energy. Despite the heaviness of air around him, he could still hear Jiro yell at the top of his lungs.  
  
"You can't finish me off, Eriol! I shall never die! You hear me?! I will NEVER die!"  
  
Stop! He told himself. There it was...he had found it. Ready! Eriol lifted up his staff in the air and opened his mouth to cast the spell. "ULTIMA!" he yelled.  
  
Syaoran's eyes glowed. He never expected this. "Get out of the way, Syaoran!" he could hear Eriol yell through the smoke. The green-eyed boy shook his head. "Iiee! What about Jiro?!"  
  
Eriol shook his head. "He knows he can't get away from my attack. This was the same attack that defeated him when we were children. Isn't that right, Jiro?" Eriol smirked, a face Syaoran has never seen on him before and felt the power of Ultima coming towards them. Reluctantly, he let go of Jiro and ran to the side, behind the tallest tree and watched the immense white power heading Jiro's way. Jiro's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out, but he stood his ground and smirked, folding his arms across his chest, as if he knew something. Syaoran glanced at Eriol, whose eyes were widening in frustration from Jiro's cockiness. He put his eyes back on Jiro and watched as he fished something from under his cape. Syaoran winced. In his hand, the twelve-year-old boy had a card, but luckily, it was not one of Sakura's cards. He had already taken her cards from the insides of Jiro's pockets and damned it if he forgotten one. But the card he had was different. It may look like Windy, but the background was black and Windy's eyes were painted blood red, making her look like a ghost. Jiro showed the card towards Eriol, the white glow getting larger towards him.   
  
"You know what this is, Eriol?" Jiro spoke through the rumble. "This is the reason for my immortality. With this, I can never die and you can not destroy it!"  
  
Before Eriol could respond, Ultima reached its target, the blast so immense and powerful that he had to force himself standing up. Syaoran held on the tree branches and braced himself as more power blew Jiro's soul away. After a couple of minutes, it was all over. Ultima died away with Jiro's agonizing screams and all was quiet once again. Syaoran opened his eyes and stood up, his knees wobbly from the large power and looked up at Eriol, who was looking at something on the ground.  
  
"Nani?" Syaoran grabbed his sword from the ground and ran to Eriol, stopping just close enough to see what was on the ground that made him stare so much. There, lying neatly on the cement, a large, black book with no writing on it. Syaoran furrowed his eyebrows, bending down to pick it up, but Eriol had reached up with his hand on Syaoran's arm, stopping the boy from getting it and shook his head.  
  
"You don't need to touch it, Syaoran. I already know what it is."  
  
Syaoran looked at him curiously. "What is it?"  
  
"It's what Jiro was talking about. It's his immortality. He may have died, but his soul will forever search for this book." Eriol picked it up slowly and grasped it tightly in his arms, and then picked up his staff from the floor.  
  
Syaoran stared at him, confused. "This book must never be opened. If it is, all the darkness that Jiro put here will be released. He may come back yet for it."  
  
"What are you saying?"  
  
Eriol paused in his tracks and turned his head at Syaoran. "I'm saying that this is only the beginning. We may have won the battle, Syaoran, but we have not reigned victory on war." He looked at the book and sighed. "This is over now. I'm going to go back to England to keep this safe in my mansion. My mansion is the only place that will keep magic away from everyone."  
  
  
  
  
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She opened her eyes, tilting her head to the side to find her mother sitting there, worry and then relief catching her face. Tomoyo smiled. "You don't need to worry anymore, okasan! I'm here now." She reached for her mother's hand and Sonomi gently took it in hers.  
  
"I'm so glad you're all right." She stood up and gave her daughter a gentle hug. "I love you, my Tomoyo."  
  
"Aishiteru, okasan..." Tomoyo whispered in her mother's ear.  
  
"I knew you would survive this. You're a strong person after all, Tomoyo," a sweet voice spoke. Tomoyo looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. Syaoran stood there smiling, along with Sakura, who had recovered from her illness. Sakura waved her hand, tears running down her cheeks. She ran to Tomoyo and added another hug around her best friend. Syaoran just stood there, not knowing what to do. "Oh, Tomoyo! I'm so glad you're all right!"  
  
"Me? What about you? I was so worried about you, Sakura!" Tomoyo embraced her best friend tightly and cried in her shoulders, along with Sakura. Sonomi stepped aside to let the two friends cry in each other's arms. Syaoran rubbed the back of his neck nervously.  
  
Eriol! Tomoyo released Sakura and looked at Syaoran. "Ne, Syaoran? Where is Eriol?"  
  
Syaoran wished he didn't have to say it. He was glad Sakura was there to fill in the details, making him do less work. He wouldn't know what to do if Tomoyo ever felt sad. He wouldn't forgive himself for telling her and he would NEVER forgive Eriol for leaving her.   
  
"He had to take care of something back in England," Sakura answered. "Don't worry, he'll come back."  
  
Tomoyo nodded. She didn't need anyone to explain to her what the 'something' in Sakura's words was. She knew she could not make his heart change from HER. She was the reason Eriol came back in Japan in the first place. Who else would he come back for? Now that Eriol had Kaho back from Jiro, he was never coming back here, to what Sakura said. She felt Sakura's arms around her again and this time, she let her best friend hug her, while she glanced out the window. She had given up all her hopes on her love for Syaoran. She knew she could not love him, so she turned to Eriol for comfort and in return, she found love in him. Love? Nani? Tomoyo shook her head. Eriol's heart belonged to another, so why should she love him? "Sakura?" Tomoyo spoke, pulling back from her friend.  
  
"Hoe?" Sakura spoke looking at her.  
  
"Would it be all right if I'm alone for a while?" Tomoyo spoke, glancing at her mother and Syaoran as well. All of them nodded in unison and together, they piled out of the door, leaving Tomoyo alone on the hospital bed, staring out of the window. For all the things Eriol had done for her, they were all out of kindness for what her generosity and nothing more, so why was she looking for Eriol to love her? Sighing, Tomoyo closed her eyes and quickly went to sleep. In two days, she was going to have her prom and she was going to have a good time. She will decide on forgetting Eriol Hiragizawa and think of other guys, other than Eriol. Eriol will never come back in her head once she's at the dance. There will be no dark hair or blue eyes appearing in her mind, or the glasses, the height and... Tomoyo sighed. She was hopeless.  
  
  
  
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Eriol placed the book gently inside his suitcase, thinking of Tomoyo. I wonder if she's all right? He thought. When he was battling Jiro, he saw her smile in his head and he felt like the burden that has been weighed upon his shoulders withered away, like Tomoyo blew them from his mind. Tomoyo... After everything that has happened to her, would she be able to forgive him? He wanted to apologize and explain everything to her. Hopefully, he didn't need to explain everything on Jiro copying Sakura's cards to make black cards of his own. He glanced at the book. The book itself was Jiro and if anyone were to open it, he would be the carrier of his soul. "I will not let anyone release you, Jiro!" Eriol hissed at the book. He closed his suitcase and turned his head out the window. The lights of Tokyo tower were the best view so far since his arrival. The view from his old mansion could not compare to the view he had at the hotel he had slept in for more than a few days now. Jiro was not gone. Not completely. And there was going to be a hard battle ahead of him, maybe even before school starts again next year. However, despite that, he would not let Jiro win. The cards will never be opened, no matter what! Clenching his fists at his sides, Eriol turned around and left the room, deciding on visiting Tomoyo for a little while before he left for England.  
  
  
  
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"She's been checked out?" he asked, surprised.   
  
The nurse nodded, furrowing her eyebrows curiously. "Yes she has, she checked out herself. Are you her boyfriend?"  
  
Eriol blushed slightly and shook his head for the answer. "No. I'm a friend of hers. When did she leave?"  
  
The blond nurse glanced at the computer, typing in something, maybe Tomoyo's name and looked back up after a couple of minutes. "This afternoon, apparently, the moment she woke up from her sleep."  
  
Eriol sighed. "Thank you."  
  
"Eriol..." The tall boy turned around, startled by the feminine voice. Tomoyo stood there, smiling, extending her hand at him. "Arigatou gozaimasu." Behind her, stood her mother, her hands on her daughter's shoulders to keep her from falling. Tomoyo, Eriol could tell, was still weak.   
  
The tall boy glanced at her hand. He expected a hug, but he was disappointed to guess that Tomoyo was still angry with him for abandoning her instead of staying with her in the hospital. He shook her hand slightly and frowned. "Gomen nasai, Tomoyo-san. I wanted to stay with you, demo..." He stopped when Tomoyo's hand shot up just slightly facing his chest. She just shook her head and smiled.  
  
"You don't need to apologize," Tomoyo said. "It wasn't your fault. I understand that you needed to fight Jiro to get Kaho back and-"  
  
"Is that what you think?" Eriol reached out towards Tomoyo with his hand on her arm and looked at her. "You think I did this for Kaho?"  
  
Tomoyo turned her eyes away and smiled, nodding. "Of course. Whom else would you do it for?"   
  
Eriol shook his head. "I thought you already knew?"  
  
The girl looked at her mother. "Okasan...Onegai... I'd like to go home now, please. Sumimasen (excuse me), Eriol."  
  
Sonomi looked up at Eriol solemnly and nodded at her daughter. "Of course. Let's go home." She led Tomoyo around and glanced back at Eriol. "Gomen, Hiragizawa-san. Thank you for everything."  
  
Eriol watched them leave, thinking about what Tomoyo said. Kaho? He has never thought of Kaho for the days he's been here. All he could think about was Tomoyo. "Tomoyo...I care about you..." He wanted to say those words, wanted to shout out to the world what he LOVED Tomoyo Daidouji, but before he could decide, she was already gone.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Note: Ooh, now that Eriol finally knows he loves Tomoyo, what's going to happen? Is he going to leave and have Tomoyo do what she wants or will he stay and make her believe he truly did everything for her and not Kaho? See you next chapter! ;) 


	12. Forever

Note: Bwuahahaha! Last chapter of the story! Hope you all enjoyed reading my story even though it wasn't that great AND accurate! Gomen, gomen, I know it wasn't THAT accurate, but I tried my best! Anywayz, last chapter, we know that Jiro has been defeated...or has he? Hey, this is the mushiest part of the story! Hope you all like! :) To those who are wondering...I AM having a sequel to this story! Oh, you all must be wondering what happened to Kaho? Well, you're about to find out as she makes another appearance on the story. ^_^ wheeeeeeee let's all jump for joy! More work for me! Oh well, all the better to satisfy my good readers out there!   
  
  
  
Chapter 12 - Forever   
  
  
  
"Ne, Tomoyo? Who's going to be your escort tonight?" Tomoyo looked up from her homework at Misaki, peering over her shoulder like a vulture looking for prey. Startled, she almost fell off her chair at Misaki's closeness, but managed to sit up straight as she closed her math book calmly.   
  
"I don't have one," Tomoyo replied softly.   
  
"Eh?" Kana turned around from her chair to look at Tomoyo, tapping her pencil annoyingly on her friend's desk. "What do you mean you don't have one?"  
  
"I mean I don't have one. I mean, that no guy is going to come with me at the dance, but just me and my friends." Tomoyo opened her math book again, doing her best to be confident about being independent and waited for Kana and Misaki to speak on how important it was to have an escort and all those useless naggings they do to her.   
Fortunately, none of them did and Tomoyo was relieved. Kana and Misaki continued on doing their math homework and said nothing of it for the rest of the day in class. When class was over, Tomoyo went to her locker to get her lunch and stuffed all her books she didn't need inside the cramped space of the school closet. Her mind jumped back to Eriol. Eriol... she thought. He must have gone back to England by now, being in Kaho's arms. Tomoyo closed her eyes.  
  
"If you hold that long enough, it's eventually going to break, Tomoyo," a deep voice spoke, startling her. Tomoyo turned around, unaware of someone approaching her and let go of her binder. She did not realize how tightly she was holding her binder, until she noticed a dent at the side. She put the binder back inside the closet and looked up as Yukio walked towards her and paused just enough to give her space.   
  
Tomoyo blushed, putting the last item in her locker and zipped her backpack closed. "Do you usually spy on people, Yuki-kun?" She looked up and smiled.  
  
Yukio blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I couldn't help but notice...well, I couldn't help but listen that you didn't have an escort for the dance. I'd like to be your escort if you want..."  
  
The lavender haired girl smiled, her teeth grinding underneath impatiently. Couldn't wait, could you? She thought. Yukio would jump at any chance to be with her, especially now that Eriol was gone. Somehow, he knew that. "Yukio..."  
  
Yuki backed away and shook his head. "Iiee! You don't need to answer that, I already know. I mean, I've liked you ever since I met you, Tomoyo and even though I can be annoying at times, I would never force you to do anything you don't want to. I was just asking." Yukio smiled for the first time she has ever seen him do- a real genuine smile that was only meant for her to see. She watched as he turned to leave, but Tomoyo's heart was full of guilt for the young man.   
  
"Yuki-kun! Matte!" Tomoyo ran to him, putting on both the straps of his backpack and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking away. Yukio turned, his face full of curiosity. "I'll go with you," she spoke.  
  
"You...will?" Yukio's eyes were full of happiness. Maybe there was hope after all.  
  
Tomoyo noticed it. She has to tell him the truth before he gets hurt even more. "Demo... Yuki-kun..." She took a hand in her palms and looked up, smiling. "Let's just go as friends, okay? I just need a friend right now."  
  
Yukio felt disappointed, but he smiled anyway. That Eriol hurt her to badly, that she has lost hope on someone else. He sighed softly and nodded. "All right, that's fine. I'll pick you up at seven?" He started to walk towards the cafeteria, but paused when Tomoyo's voice interrupted his thoughts.   
  
Tomoyo nodded taking steps in beside him. "Hai! Are you going to be eating at the cafeteria or outside?"   
  
Yukio shrugged. "I don't know. Where do you want to eat?"  
  
The dark haired girl smiled. "Since it's a nice day, I'd say we eat outside."  
  
"Good!" Yukio grabbed Tomoyo's hand. "I don't really want to eat with Misaki and Kana anyways. They'll start nagging me about taking you to the dance."  
  
"Well, you ARE taking me to the dance!" Tomoyo replied as they stepped out of the building, as if they were running from some kind of criminal.  
  
Yukio laughed. "Yeah well, they'll start nagging on someone else. I don't need three mothers!" They stopped running and began walking to a nearby tree.  
  
Tomoyo giggled as they turned the corner, not knowing that someone nearby was watching them closely. He watched from a top a tree, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He closely regarded the way she smiled, the way she moved and the way her hair blew in her face. Tomoyo...he thought. He wished that he could hold her. He stepped down from the tree and followed them down the street, his footsteps quiet in the windy afternoon. A woman and a man passed by, but Eriol did not care about them, his eyes were trained on the young woman ahead of him, a lovely young woman whom he will miss more than anything else in the world. Tomoyo and the high school friend of hers walked by the older couple. Eriol paused when she noticed the way Tomoyo was staring at the woman as they walked by each other. He glanced towards the woman and gasped at the sight of the one person he has not seen in months. Kaho? He thought. Walking beside her was a man he did not know. What was going on?  
  
"Kaho?" Eriol yelled, grabbing the woman's arm. The woman turned, startled by the young man's sudden aggression. The man beside her turned and took Eriol by the shoulder, warning him. Eriol brushed his hand away and looked closely into the woman's eyes. There was no mistaken...this WAS Kaho. Kaho just looked at him, confusion in her eyes as if she has never seen him all his life.  
  
"Excuse me, young man... will you please take your hand off of my wife?" the man spoke, now firmly grasping Eriol's shoulder. He gently guided him from her sight and stared hard into his eyes. "Who are you?!"  
  
"Kaho! Don't you remember me?" Eriol's eyes were on the woman alone and no one else. Tomoyo watched Eriol's expression. They were full of confusion, sadness and heartbreak. Kaho just stared at him and for one slow motion; she shook her head in response to his question. Tomoyo stood, watching as Eriol went back to her and took her hand in his. Her heart felt like it was stabbed many times by a large knife.   
  
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. Let's go, Kei." She took her husband's hand and pulled him away from Eriol's sight and they turned the direction from which they came. Eriol watched them leave, many questions running in his mind. What happened to her after the China incident?   
  
Sighing, Eriol turned, only to have turned the wrong way as he noticed Tomoyo's tears flowing down her cheeks. Her eyes were full of sadness and he wanted to be the last person that made her cry. How could he do this to her? "Tomoyo..."  
  
Tomoyo frowned, grabbing Yukio's hand and walked away from him, dragging the poor boy behind her. Eriol wanted to tell Tomoyo the truth. True, he wanted Kaho back, but not as his lover, but as his friend. Now that he knows Kaho truly HAS come back and is now in a happy relationship with a man who will take care of her, his heart truly belongs to Tomoyo. Somehow, he has to find a way to make her understand. Eriol sighed and nodded. He has decided on one thing to make her see that he truly loved her.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
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"Kaho? Do you know that man?" Kei spoke, wrapping his arms around her.  
  
His wife nodded. "Yes. But I just want him to move on now. I know that he has found someone of his own so there is no point of me worrying." She turned to face the man who saved her life from death. "Kei? What was Jiro like?"  
  
Kei grinned, stealing a kiss from the tip of her nose. "Jiro was someone who was misunderstood. My uncle deserves to rest in peace now, knowing now of what that witch has done to him."  
  
His wife curled a strand of blond hair behind his ear. "He doesn't have to worry about her anymore."  
  
Kei nodded. "Yes, but we do. She'll come back for him again and she'll find a way to revive him so she can use him to release the cards."  
  
"Yes, but that's not our concern anymore. Eriol can do it."  
  
Kei sighed. "I just hope he's strong enough to defeat her."  
  
Kaho took Kei's hand in hers. "Don't worry. Because of Tomoyo, Eriol's heart is stronger than before.  
  
The blond man pulled away from his wife and looked at her strangely. "What does his heart have to do with it?"  
  
"Trust me...it has EVERYTHING to do with it."  
  
  
  
  
  
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"Tomoyo!!!!!! KAWAII!" Misaki and Kana peeked from their windows and watched as Yukio led their friend down the stairs slowly. Her dress was the most amazing to watch and it suited her well. She surprised Tomoyo the moment Kana met her, the way she acted, despite how rich she was, she was as kind as anyone she has ever known. Most rich folks were snobs to her, but Tomoyo would not do that. And no matter how much money she had, she would make her clothes from scratch, without buying something expensive from a store. "Tomoyo, you did it again! You're once again the bell of the ball!" Kana spoke, unlocking the door for her at the back. Tomoyo's dress was long, purple and beautiful and she had outdone herself for making something like that. It was one of the best dresses she has ever made.  
  
Tomoyo blushed at their comments as Yukio opened the door for her. He leaned slightly and whispered, "Don't let them get to you! Just smile and have fun at this dance!"  
  
The girl nodded and smiled up at Yukio. "Arigatou gozaimasu!"  
  
When everyone was inside, the black Volkswagen Beatle pulled out of the Daidouji driveway and were taken to the Hakusho Convention Center, just forty minutes from Tomoyo's place, a building big enough for at least a thousand people, overlooking the beautiful ocean. They entered with awe and glee at the marvelous chandelier high above the ceiling and the dinner, gleaming with famous cuisines from the around the world prepared only for the graduates. There was a large stage that was almost a semi-circle, facing a huge dance floor and instruments fit for a rock band steadily on the stage. The moment they opened the door to let them in, a few teenage men stepped out from the black curtains and took their places on the stage, with their guitars, their drums and their keyboard. Tomoyo watched them carefully; entranced by the way they tuned their guitars. She has almost forgotten to sing. At that moment, she wanted to sing and it didn't matter how many people watched her. She just wanted to express her feelings through a song so that maybe Eriol can hear her. However, her idea popped out of her head when everyone else started shuffling inside, their voices loud and echoing around the building. Tomoyo looked behind her to find Kana and Misaki calling for her to sit down on a table next to the refreshments. She nodded and sat down next to Yukio and watched as the bright lights turned down slightly to make the room dim. Every six hundred graduates sat down at their respected reserved tables and watched as Yamura-sensei, their principal, stepped out of the darkness and into the spotlight, on top of the stage. He cleared his throat before starting his speech. One that Tomoyo usually found interesting and boring for others. However, for some reason, Tomoyo could not listen. Her mind was trained on Eriol's face and his smile. 'He must have already left for England,' she thought.   
  
"I know you all must be eager for this night, so we're just going to start off the dance with a little tune from our band here. Have fun graduates, this is your night!" Loud cheers and hollers came after Yamura-sensei spoke those words and he stepped out of the light, the rock band began to play a slow song. A few couples were the first brave soldiers to step into the dance floor and began to dance. Tomoyo sighed. Great... a slow song, she thought.   
  
"Ne, Yukio?" Misaki whispered to her cousin. "Why don't you ask Tomoyo to dance?"   
  
Yukio smiled and shook his head. "Iiee. She looks thirsty, I think I'll just ask her if she wants anything to drink!" He turned towards Tomoyo. "Tomoyo? Do you want something to drink?"  
  
Misaki looked at her cousin strangely. Yukio? She watched him suspiciously as Tomoyo answered his question with a 'yes' and as he took her answer by leaving her side to fetch him a drink. Misaki turned towards Tomoyo, confused by what just happened. "Tomoyo? Do you think Yukio is acting strange?"  
  
Tomoyo shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Naze?"  
  
"What did you do to him?" Misaki asked, looking at her suspiciously.  
  
"Me?" Tomoyo's eyes widened. "I didn't do anything to him."  
  
"Yeah right..."  
  
"Misaki! Let's dance!" Misaki looked up. Yoshitomi Morie held out a hand towards her and, forgetting about her suspicion, took his hand and walked with him to the dance floor. Tomoyo sighed. It was a good thing Misaki forgot everything she said after a while. She didn't need her nagging right now. Kana was also dancing with her date, by the name of Akita Shotaro, a sophomore in college. They seem to be having fun, she thought.   
  
"Then, why aren't you?" Tomoyo sighed. Yukio was back all ready? She thought to herself. She looked up, expecting her friend with a glass of water, but she was shocked to find Eriol there instead. He held out his hand to her. "Would a lovely lady care to dance with a fool like me?"  
  
Tomoyo thought for a moment, unsure what to say. She placed a hand on his, still doubting him and stood up. She said nothing as Eriol led her on the dance floor, watched with resentment by her two friends. Slowly, he took her in his arms, placing one hand around her waist and the other, connecting with fingers. Tomoyo blushed at their contact. They have never had ANY contact since he came to visit, maybe except that one time she embraced him, but that was different. She put an arm around him, staring into his eyes. "What are you doing here? I thought you left for England?"  
  
"I forgot to give you something." He let go of Tomoyo's hand and fished something from out of his tuxedo jacket. After a few seconds, he took out a small box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and handed it to her. They continued to dance as Tomoyo took the box with one hand, while Eriol put his other hand around the other side of her waist. Tomoyo examined it for a while, then looked up.  
  
"What's this?" she asked. "Aren't you jumping ahead just a bit?"  
  
Eriol laughed. "It's not what you think. I want you to open it after you get your diploma tomorrow."  
  
Tomoyo said nothing. "You...won't be there?"  
  
Eriol stopped laughing. "I have to go back to England to keep the black book safe."  
  
Tomoyo nodded. "I understand." What black book? He's just covering it up so he can be with Kaho. Why would he lie to her?   
  
Reading her thoughts, Eriol frowned. "Tomoyo, is that what you think of me?"  
  
Caught in the act, Tomoyo looked down and said nothing, answering his question. Eriol placed a hand underneath her chin and lifted her head up so she could look at him. "I'm not lying to you. Kaho has found someone else and she has already moved on. I plan on moving on too, if you let me."  
  
Tears fell from her eyes. Tomoyo could no longer contain her emotion. He always knew how she felt, always knew what to say to her. "I'm sorry. I believe you. I didn't want you to go, but I guess your first duty is to be a sorcerer so you can protect the world."  
  
"And most importantly...you." Eriol tilted her head up towards him and he leaned forward towards her soft lips. For the first time during those months full of turmoil and despair, all was washed away by his kiss. Tomoyo closed her eyes, feeling so alive. She felt like there were wings on her feet for her to fly. She was on Cloud 9. "I'll never forget you, Tomoyo," he whispered in her ear. "My flight leaves in a few hours and I just want to congratulate you. You made it."  
  
Tomoyo smiled, feeling her breaking heart going back to pieces, now that she knows she has found where she belongs... with him. "I'll think of you...always." More tears fell from her eyes and they danced slowly through the night, watched by Yukio, a friend, mentor and a broken hearted teenager.  
  
  
  
  
  
***************  
  
  
  
  
"Tomoyo! Hayaku! Hayaku! You're going to be late for the commencements!" Tomoyo opened one eye slowly. She had a wonderful dream... was it a dream? She stretched and yawned and rubbed her eyes lazily, smiling to herself. Yes, it must have been a dream. Glancing at her clock on her bedside table, Tomoyo noticed a small box wrapped with the same gold paper she saw in her dreams. It wasn't a dream, she thought.   
  
A hard knock startled her from her reverie. Tomoyo looked up at her closed door and nodded. "Hai! Hai! I'm coming!" She washed her hair quickly at her bathroom sink and changed into her nice purple sundress. She paired that dress with her white sandals and tied her hair up into a neat ponytail. There was no point in worrying about what she was going to wear, since she was going to wear her gown overtop anyway.   
  
"Tomoyo! Let's go!" her mother yelled from downstairs.  
  
The dark haired girl grabbed the small box from the table and stuffed it inside her pocket located near the leg part of the dress. She ran out the door and down the stairs, locking the door behind her. Her mother was already waiting for her at the driveway, inside their black BMW, getting irritated. A drop of sweat soaked her forehead and she apologized to her mother for being late as she stepped inside the car. Her mother sighed and nodded, accepting her apology and they drove out of the driveway like no tomorrow to the Tomoeda high school.  
  
  
  
  
***************  
  
  
  
  
  
"Daidouji Tomoyo!" the principal called. Cheers and claps could be heard around the auditorium as Tomoyo stepped into the platform. She nervously walked across the stage towards the principal, who was holding her two diplomas. "Tomoyo receives a diploma of recognition, with the scholarship of $10,000 from the Yomashido Music School and the scholarship of $1,000 from a charity work in South Africa." More roars from each student grew louder as he announced her work. Tomoyo blushed as she accepted the two diplomas, one rolled up and one placed inside a glass frame. She shook hand with her sensei and took pictures with him. When her turn was done, she stepped out of the platform and back down towards her seat. She received pats and congratulations from each student as she walked by and received hugs from Misaki, Kana and Yukio. Her mother gave her a hug as well, adding a kiss on her cheek and tears of happiness.   
  
"I'm so proud of you!" Sonomi whispered in her daughter's ear. Tomoyo sat down beside her mother and when the last person was called at the platform, following the same routine as everyone else did, Yamura-sensei stepped back towards the microphone and said his final words.   
  
"It was such an honor to have been your principal these last five years. You guys were the greatest kids I have ever met. You conquered everything and did all that could be! Despite the difficulties, you defeated the challenges and stood a top the pile and smiled throughout the years. I'm going to miss you all!" Tears of joy surrounded Yamura-sensei as all the graduated students, with their diplomas and medals, lifted up their caps and tossed it high in the air, the golden tassles flinging in the air around them. Hollers and hoots could be heard from many mouths of the parents, the visitors and the graduates around her. Tomoyo consciously reached inside her blouse at her pocket and felt something there. She took it out slowly and placed the box in the palm of her hands. Curiously, she opened the box and finally saw what it was that drove her to wonder. Inside, was a sterling silver necklace with a small treble clef pendant, adorned with a small, diamond placed at the end of the 'S' part of the treble. Tomoyo smiled, pulling the necklace slowly from the carton and examined it closely. The diamond was REAL! She could tell by the way the light bounced off from it. Tears of happiness gleamed from her eyes.   
  
"Tomoyo!" The girl looked up and was surprised to see Sakura, with Syaoran trailing behind, running towards her, with a camera in her hand. She ran her way through the crowd and wrapped her arms around the taller girl lovingly. "Tomoyo! Congratulations!"  
  
Tomoyo smiled, glancing at the necklace in her hands. "Congratulations to you too, Sakura and Syaoran! I can't believe we made it!"  
  
"Neither could I!" Sakura squeaked. She pulled away from Tomoyo and noticed the necklace in her hand as the girl unwrapped her arms from around her. "What's that, Tomoyo?" she asked, pointing at the necklace.  
  
Tomoyo glanced at the gift and smiled. "It's from Eriol," she replied, with a hint of red coloring on her cheeks.  
  
Sakura smiled. "You're going to miss him, aren't you?" She waited for her answer, however, Tomoyo just smiled and turned back towards the stage, staring at nothing. She was going to miss him after all. 'Summer...' she thought. 'Eriol, I'm going to be with you soon enough.' Sakura stared at her as Tomoyo turned to look at her best friend.  
  
"Ne, Sakura? What do you think is a good summer vacation?"   
  
Sakura stared at her for a moment, then thought about it, but not before Tomoyo answered her own question first. "I think watching the beautiful sunset in England would be nice, don't you think?"  
  
The shorthaired girl smiled, finally understanding what she means. "That would be great! Can I come too?"  
  
Syaoran stared at the two girls, confused by their conversation.  
  
"Sure!" Tomoyo answered. She glanced at Syaoran. For the first time in months, she never saw Syaoran more than just a friend. She saw him as a good pal for the many years they've been together. "What about you, Syoaran? Care to join us?"  
  
Syaoran had no choice but the answer 'yes' even though he had no idea what was going on. "Ah! Syaoran-kun!" Sakura wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and giggled when she noticed him blushing. Tomoyo laughed along with her, her heart pounding with excitement for the up coming summer and her mind completely on Eriol's smile and his kiss. Tomoyo looked up into the sky and closed her eyes. Eriol...she thought. I'm coming...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
GoodGurl: Whew! Finished that! Woohoo! Can't wait to write the sequel! You can guess what type of sequel! Tomoyo in England for the summer! Yeay! See ya! 


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